Declaration of Tinubu as President, unlawful, null, void, unconstitutional — Atiku

<p>The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, has asserted that the declaration of Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s president is unlawful, null, void, and unconstitutional.</p>, <p>Atiku maintained that Tinubu’s eligibility to contest for Nigeria’s Presidency is questionable since he has personally admitted and his witness has confirmed that he forfeited $460,000 to the American government due to the offences of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.</p>, <p>In his final address supporting his petition seeking the nullification of Tinubu’s victory, Atiku dismissed Tinubu’s claim that the forfeiture of the money was part of a civil court action.</p>, <p>Atiku argued that this distinction is irrelevant because a United States District Court acted on Tinubu’s indictment before imposing the forfeiture fine on him.</p>, <p>The final address, endorsed by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), states:</p>, <p>“The forfeiture of $460,000 by the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) to the United States Government (a competent authority in the instant case) is neither contested nor disputed by any of the Respondents. The feeble response of the Respondents is that there was no arraignment or criminal conviction.</p>, <p>“The verified complaint for forfeiture and the entire records of the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division dated September 15, 1993, clearly indicated that Tinubu, the 2nd Respondent’s funds totalling $460,000, were seized as the funds which constitute proceeds of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.</p>, <p>“The 2nd Respondent’s (Tinubu’s) sole witness, Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, admitted under cross-examination when shown the American court judgment that the proceedings affected the 2nd Respondent, as his name was reflected in the records of the court.</p>, <p>“It is pertinent to observe that the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) evaded denying the forfeiture of the said sum of $460,000 to the