Am A Nigerian By Birth – Atiku Fires Back at APC
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Abubakar Atiku has debunked notions that he was Cameroonian by birth and thus not qualified to contest the election of 23 February 2019, thereby revealing his true nationality.
Atiku, who was born in Jada in 1946, in present-day Adamawa state, but then part of Northern Cameroon said he was born by Nigerian parents and therefore “a citizen of Nigeria by birth.”
Responding to the petition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the Presidential election tribunal, the former Vice President revealed that his father, Garba Atiku Abdulkadir was a Nigerian by birth who hailed from Wurmo in present-day Sokoto State.
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He also revealed that his mother, Aisha Kande was also a Nigerian who hailed from Dutse in present-day Jigawa State.
He added that in Jada, his grandfather gave birth to Garba who in tum gave birth to him and named him after his own father Atiku.
He also revealed that his mother, Akande was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present-day Jigawa State.
“That all averments concerning Germany, British Cameroons, League of Nations and Plebiscite are false and misleading in relation to the 1st Petitioner and therefore completely irrelevant more so that the 1st Petitioner is a Nigerian by birth within the contemplation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“The averments in the aforesaid paragraphs are indeed fabricated, contrived, made in bad faith and designed to embarrass the 1st Petitioner,” Atiku pointed.
The PDP candidate listed his career path and political activities, awards and honours that he had received to buttress his Nigerians citizenship to include being a civil servant in the Nigerian Customs Service for over 20 years, retired as a Deputy Director; a politician for about 30 years, who in 1992 contested the Presidential Primaries under the platform of then Social Democratic Party (SDP) alongside the late Chief M.K.O Abiola and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe.
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Atiku also stated that his participation in the 1999 governorship election in Adamawa State in 1999, which he won and the presidential elections of 1999 and 2003, which he won as running mate to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He also spoke about his being a recipient of the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) and holder of the traditional title holder of Turakin Adamawa from 1982 to 2017 when he was elevated to Wazirin Adamawa.
