A rights group, The Progressive Counsel (TPC), has challenged the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to first resolve the controversy surrounding his citizenship before questioning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s eligibility for the 2027 election.
The group, comprising human rights lawyers, forensic auditors and policy analysts, made the call after a meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday, accusing the former vice president of expending energy on what it described as a “non-existent case of drug conviction” against Tinubu.
In a statement titled: “Atiku Must Face the Constitutional Mirror,” signed by its convener, Maiyegun Oloriegbe, the group said Atiku could not demand scrutiny of Tinubu’s credentials while allegedly leaving questions surrounding his own citizenship unanswered.
“Before Atiku Abubakar challenges President Tinubu’s eligibility for 2027, by digging up a non-existent case of drug conviction against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he must first answer the citizenship question hanging over his own head,” the group said.
The TPC cited Section 131 of the Nigerian Constitution, which it said requires a presidential candidate to be a Nigerian citizen by birth, and raised questions about Atiku’s reported place of birth in Jada, which was then part of British Cameroons.
According to the group, Atiku’s authorised biography, Atiku: The Story of Atiku Abubakar, published in 2006, stated that he was born in Jada in 1946, before the territory became part of Nigeria following the 1961 plebiscite.
The group further claimed that the citizenship issue had previously been taken before the Federal High Court in Abuja, but that the case was terminated on procedural grounds, including locus standi, rather than being determined on its substantive merits.
“Yet the same Atiku now races to court to put Tinubu under the microscope. He demands forensic examination of the President’s documents, records and history. Fine. Let the courts hear him. But justice is not a one-way street; the man who demands the microscope must stand under it himself,” the statement added.
The TPC maintained that neither Tinubu nor Atiku was above the Constitution, arguing that allegations, foreign documents or Freedom of Information Act disclosures should not automatically be treated as proof of constitutional disqualification without judicial determination.
It also warned against turning the 2027 election into what it described as a “permanent courthouse campaign,” urging political actors to shift attention towards issues such as the economy, insecurity, employment, infrastructure and leadership.
“Atiku has every right to challenge Tinubu, but he has no right to demand that only Tinubu faces the constitutional mirror while his own credentials remain untouchable,” the group said, adding that “what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”
The group concluded by urging the courts to determine legal questions while Nigerians decide the country’s leadership at the ballot box, stressing that no candidate should be placed above or beneath the protection of the Constitution.
