Special Assistant on Public Communications to Atiku Abubakar, Mr Phrank Shaibu, has explained why his principal filed a fresh case against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the United States (US).
According to Shaibu, in a statement on Sunday, the fresh Atiku’s suit against Tinubu, which is marked No. 23-5099 (N. D. III.), was filed because of the need to take the matter to a higher court.
“Atiku Abubakar only withdrew the case before a Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County, United States of America, because he is pursuing the same matter in a higher court and he wanted to avoid abuse of court processes. So, this is just the beginning”, he explained.
The higher court, he said, is the “United States of America District Court for the Northern District of Illinois”.
Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election, is challenging the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Tinubu won the poll.
The crux of the matter, according to Shaibu, is the argument that Tinubu’s academic records from primary school to the university remained questionable, hence the President’s failure to identify a single former classmate of his.
He said, “In the past weeks, Nigerians have been watching the ongoing ministerial screening at the Senate where nominees have been made to reveal their primary, secondary and university history. Some of the ministerial nominees were even classmates with the senators screening them.
“However, the man who nominated them has no educational history. He has no primary school, secondary school or university classmates. This is because he has no classmates. He actually fell from the sky.
“In recent years, past Presidents have invited their former classmates to Aso Rock Villa. Even President Muhammadu Buhari hosted his classmates from Katsina Middle School. But who did Bola Tinubu invite to the Presidential Villa? Governors from 1999 set.”