Presidential Tribunal: Finally, Tinubu admits dual citizenship allegation as Lawyer makes crucial demand

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has admitted before the presidential election petition tribunal of having dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea.

As reported by the Nigerian Tribune, President Tinubu admitted to this allegation through his lawyer Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

Olanipekun, however, told the court that the Guinea citizenry passport of President Tinubu had expired as far back as 2020.

He argued that the passport presented by the petitioners holds no solid basis for his client to be prosecuted.

Tinubu's lawyer calls for dismissal of Labour Party's petition

Olanipekun further urged the 5-member panel tribunal to dismiss the petition filed by the Labour Party seeking President Tinubu's ouster from office.

He accused the petitioner of deliberately attempting to embarrass the President instead of presenting a solid case and evidence.

He said: “Lastly, the PW27 tendered Exhibit PBF4 (Guinean passport), which as usual, he claimed to have downloaded from the internet, purportedly representing the data pages of the respondent’s Guinean passport, which ex facie shows that the passport expired in 2020. It is all guesswork, aimed at embarrassing the respondent.”

Tinubu’s claim comes in response to challenges to his victory in the February 25 presidential election by the LP and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The petitioners allege that Tinubu is ineligible to hold the president’s office due to his dual citizenship in Nigeria and Guinea.

They accuse Tinubu of failing to disclose pertinent information regarding his constitutional qualifications in his Form EC9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which goes against the provisions of the law.

The petitioners argue that Tinubu was constitutionally disqualified from running for president.