Mohammed Hayatu, who is Atiku Abubakar’s 42nd witness called to testify at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal said on Tuesday that the part of Adamawa Province where Atiku was born had never been part of Cameroon.
He was responding to questions posed to him by respondents’ lawyers under cross-examination.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress are the respondents to the petition challenging the outcome of the February 23, 2019 poll.
Fielding questions from the respondents’ lawyers, Hayatu confirmed that Atiku was born in 1946 in Jadda, in the Adamawa Province.
He confirmed that he was “told of the 1961 plebiscite” through which British Cameroon became part of Nigeria.
Asked if he was aware that the Adamawa Province was part of British Cameroon ceded to Nigeria in the aftermath of the 1961 plebiscite, he said, “There was a part of Adamawa Province that was in Northern Cameroon.”
He added: “Adamawa Province had a Nigeria part and a Cameroon part.
“Jadda does not fall under Northern Cameroon.”
Asked if he had “any map to show the demarcation of the Adamawa Province”, the witness said, “I’m not a geographer.”
Earlier, while being cross-examined by INEC’s lawyer, Yunus Usman (SAN), Hayatu said he was born on February 1, 1966, which was 20 years after Atiku was born.
He confirmed that the head of Atiku family was in a better position than him to talk about the birth of the former Vice-President.
Asked if the Atiku family had a head that was still alive, the witness said, “They have a head of family”.
Asked who the head of the family was, he said, “Atiku is the head of the family.”
