The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), says the suit challenging the citizenship of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, started in 2019.

He further stated that he did not institute the case as it was filed by a civil society organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa.

The AGF said this in a statement titled, ‘I didn’t file suit against Atiku’s Citizenship – Malami,’ which was signed by his spokesman, Dr Umar Gwandu.

The statement read in part, “Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has not instituted legal action on the citizenship or otherwise of the former Vice-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“Malami has never filled any case before any court in the country challenging the citizenship of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

“The matter in contention was part of the 2019 pre-election matters instituted by a civil society organisation – the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/177/201, in respect of which Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party Independent National Electoral Commission and the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation was made a co-defendant.”

The AGF said the issue had already been widely reported by the media since April, 2019.

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“It is unfortunate that stale news stories capable of causing confusion are repackaged and presented to the general public as current news,” the statement read.

The AGF had in his response to the suit, claimed that Atiku was not a natural born citizen of Nigeria but a Cameroonian.

He said the former Vice-President was born in Jada in the 1940s at a time the town was still part of Cameroon.