Former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday insisted that the nation must enthrone the values of integrity, morality and justice in its public life to make progress.
Atiku said this at a press conference in Abuja following the revelations arising from the released academic records of President Bola Tinubu by Chicago State University, adding that the reputation of Nigeria was at stake.
He also stated that the institutions responsible for establishing the credibility of any certificate presented by candidates for public office should not take months or decades to do their work.
He urged presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi,his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and other the leaders of thought to join the campaign to "enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality and uprightness in our country and in our government."
Atiku and Obi's petitions against Tinubu's election were struck out at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
Atiku, however, continued an inquiry into the academic records of Tinubu at a court in the United States.
After some legal fireworks, the court ordered the release of official documents to Atiku who is seeking to include them in his appeal at the Supreme Court.
The academic records were released to Atiku's lawyers on Monday after which the registrar of Chicago State University, Caleb Westberg, orally deposed to them.
Speaking on the matter for the first time yesterday, the PDP presidential candidate said the law is clear that a party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his illegality.
He said, "Today, we are called upon again as a people to uphold and defend the ground rules of elective government in our country. The constitution prescribes the requirements for those who seek the highest elective office in the land.
"It should not take months or, indeed, decades, for the institutions concerned to be able to do their work in establishing the credibility of any certificates presented by candidates for public office."
"We undertook this journey at great cost and for important reasons. The ground rules for legitimate governance in our country need to be upheld, and the reputation of our country is at stake. That affects everyone, Nigerians everywhere."
Atiku also paid tribute to the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, for inspiring him on this path of discovery.
"Now, he can truly rest in peace in the assurance that what he started about 23 years ago has come to fruition. Gani's vindication today gives credence to the saying that no matter how fast a lie runs, the truth will someday overtake it."
Fawehinmi had challenged the authenticity of Tinubu's educational claims in court when the latter first ran for Lagos State governor in 1999 but could not conclude the case before his demise.
Atiku also commended David Hundeyin, an independent journalist whose extraordinary work and those of many others like him in digging into Tinubu's past to expose his persona, saying they were a source of inspiration to him.
"This qest is not for, or about, Atiku Abubakar. It is a quest for the enthronement of truth, morality, and accountability in our public affairs. In line with this, therefore, I am calling on all well-meaning Nigerians, leaders of thought, our religious leaders, our traditional leaders, our community leaders, our political leaders, and in particular, Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP and the leaders of every political party in Nigeria, and, indeed, every single person who loves this country, as I do, and who wishes nothing but the best for the country, as I do, to join me in this campaign to enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality and uprightness in our country and in our government. This is a task for each and every one of us."
The former vice president also dismissed claims that his pursuit of the case amounts to a betrayal of Tinubu who was his political ally under the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
Atiku, who said he was not indebted to Tinubu in anyway, recounted how he ensured Tinubu got a second term as Lagos State governor in 2003, by prevailing on his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to spare Lagos as the PDP swept most states in the South West region in 2003.
Atiku further recalled that his political relationship with Tinubu severed in 2007 because he refused to pick the former Lagos State governor as his vice presidential running mate on grounds of his (Atiku) opposition to a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
"So, who is indebted to the other, is it me or Tinubu? Till today I will not do a Muslim-Muslim ticket; it is absolutely wrong and not right; we are multi-ethnic, and multi-religious."
The former vice president, who vowed to press on with the case at the Supreme Court, added that he will only back down after the Supreme Court makes a decision on it.
He added that he was not scared that any of his businesses will be taken away from him.
"It has already been taken away from me since the Buhari administration. They took it and distributed it among themselves," he added.
Responding to a question on the revelations from the released academic records, Atiku's lawyer, Barr Kalu Kalu, who was also at the press briefing, said one of the documents released by Chicago State University (CSU) showed that Tinubu allegedly forged the certificate of a black American.
He said, "The qualifying certificates from Southwest College to Chicago State University bear a female, indicating that the document does not belong to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
"Also, the CSU admission application form has a claim that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended Government College, Lagos and graduated in 1970 when, indeed, the school was established in 1974.
"The same document has it that the owner of that document is a black American and in the document Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted to INEC, he denied having dual citizenship, which means it does not belong to him.
"The same document under deposition says that the 'A' (in) Bola A. Tinubu is Ahmed, but the NYSC certificate Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted to INEC has Adekunle."
On the question of what use the discrepancies would be at the Supreme Court, he said: "It is very clear that from decided authorities, the Supreme Court has held that they can accept a party to adduce fresh evidence, as long as certain conditions are met, and from what transpired in the proceedings in US courts, that condition has already been met.
"So, as we speak, our illegality law is very clear that a party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his illegality," the lawyer said.
Accept Defeat, Lick Your Wounds Quietly, APC Fires Back
In its reaction, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has again told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to graciously accept his defeat and quietly lick his political wound with some dignity.
The party said Nigerians rejected Atiku at the polls, and he cannot get by subterfuge what he failed to get through the ballot box.
APC said these in reaction to a world press conference addressed by the PDP presidential candidate in the last general election in Abuja yesterday.
The ruling party, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, said Nigerians validly elected President Tinubu to revamp the economy, restore security, create jobs, provide transformative infrastructure, improve electricity supply and enhance the living conditions of the masses.
Morka said Tinubu had undertaken to serve Nigerians and he would not be distracted by a man who has consistently failed to achieve his self-serving and brutal quest to become Nigeria's president.
"For several weeks now, Nigerians and the world have watched with incredulity Alhaji Abubakar's display of utter desperation in his failed bid to become the president of Nigeria.
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"Earlier today, he put his desperation in overdrive during his press conference where he addressed some of the issues in his appeal at the Supreme Court and bandying unproven charges against the President of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a calculated attempt to shamelessly whip up public sentiments and inordinately pressure the Supreme Court.
"The press conference lacked purpose and delivered nothing except the pitiful regurgitation of lies, mindless distortions and deliberate falsehood on his infantile obsession with the academic record of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria," he said.
Morka stated that Atiku should have known better than to demonstrate gross contempt of the highest court by making public comments on a matter that he has submitted to the court for adjudication.
Support Us To Reclaim Mandate, Says LP
Also yesterday, the Labour Party (LP) called on Atiku Abubakar to join the party in reclaiming its stolen electoral mandate.
Both Atiku and the presidential candidate of LP, Peter Obi, are at the Supreme Court claiming they won the 2023 presidential election.
The LP, in a statement issued by the national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said Obi is seeking to reclaim what he described as his stolen mandate, adding that he is focused on that.
"He has been in the vanguard of ensuring a just nation where justice must be the watchword, and he will not stop until Nigeria achieves the leadership it truly deserves.
"Obi has pontificated copiously on the need for leaders to be good role models and to live a life worthy of emulation. This he has done by publicly putting his credentials in the open for verification. Nigeria will get better when men of integrity and honour drive the affairs of the nation.
"We therefore welcome every other interest willing to join us in our pursuit of a nation where justice shall reign," Ifoh added.
