A civil society organization has asked the Abuja Federal High Court to order the investigation and prosecution of Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, for his alleged Guinean citizenship.
The Defense Initiative for the Advancement and Development of Social Rights (ASRADI) charged Mr. Tinubu with perjury for refusing to disclose his alleged dual citizenship to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, the group urged the court to order the police to investigate the case and possibly refer Tinubu to the Federation Attorney General for prosecution.
He pleaded with the court to hear and determine the request “before the swearing in of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2023.”
Mr. Tinubu will begin enjoying constitutional immunity from prosecution once he takes office on May 29.
Tinubu, who won the February presidential election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, has been embroiled in recent controversy over his alleged Republic of Guinea citizenship.
A former Guinean president, Alpha Condé, confirmed his award of “extraordinary ambassador” to Tinubu, whom he described as a “pan-Africanist”.
However, Tinubu has neither confirmed nor denied his dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea.
Following Mr. Tinubu’s silence on the issue, a civil society group called for the prosecution of the president-elect by the police.
It alleged that Mr. Tinubu lied under oath in refusing to disclose Guinean citizenship on his Form EC9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2023 presidential elections.
Tinubu’s claim of citizenship has also been filed at the Presidential Election Appeal Court in Abuja, where Mr. Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election is being contested.
Prayers
In an urgency affidavit in support of an ex parte application, the group’s lawyer, Chukwunweike Okafor, urged the court to grant his client permission to seek an order compelling Police Inspector General Usman Baba to investigate and prosecute. to Mr. Tinubu. if he is found guilty of perjury in respect of his Guinean citizenship.
Citing relevant provisions of the Nigerian constitution and the Police Act, Mr Okafor said that the police have a legal duty to investigate Mr Tinubu for alleged perjury contained in the INEC Form EC9 which he swore to on June 14, 2022. in relation to his Guinean citizenship.
“A mandamus order obliging the defendant (police) to investigate the fillings made by Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding his Guinean citizenship contained in the INEC Form EC9 sworn by him on June 14, 2022, and where he is found guilty of the crime of false testimony, remit it to the Federal Attorney General’s Office for processing.”
In the affidavit of Adeolu Oyinlola, ASRADI Executive Director, the applicant urged the court to hear and determine the application “prior to the swearing in of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2023”.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s non-disclosure on INEC form EC9 of his dual citizenship of his voluntary acquisition of Guinean citizenship amounts to perjury.”
The request is accompanied by a letter from the plaintiff to the IGP dated May 8.
The letter with the title, ‘Bola Ahmed Tinubu Investigation Demand for Suspicion of Perjury,’ read in part: “On page three (3) of the affidavit in support of personal data, the EC9 form that Ahmed Tinubu filled and presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) preparatory to the presidential election of February 25, 2023, declared under oath in response to question eleven (11) that he has not voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any other country.
“However, it has now come to light that (the) subject has voluntarily acquired Guinean citizenship.”
Meanwhile, with less than two weeks to go before Mr. Tinubu’s inauguration, no hearing date has been set for the claim.