Senate President, Bukola Saraki has described online newspaper, Sahara Reporters, as unprofessional, because of a news story the medium published accusing him of being unqualified to hold a political position in Nigeria because of his alleged dual citizenship.

Reacting to the publication, Saraki’s special assistant on new media, Bamikole Omishore, released a statement on the senate president’s website, describing the report as “dubious and utterly false”.

He said, “As it stands, a detailed perusal of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, clearly indicates that the point Sahara Reporters is attempting to raise is moot – especially with regards to holding UK citizenship.

“The ready question at hand to ask is; why Sahara Reporter has intentionally remained silent and avoided to look into the constitutional Provisions of right to hold dual citizenship, especially where the party in question holds Nigerian citizenship by birth.

“The second relevant question is, if in fact, the purpose of such a publication was for public interest, has Sahara Reporters carried out diligent investigation on the authenticity of its report before publication? If the answers to the above questions are in the negative, then the rationale behind the report is for obvious reasons.”

Omishore also quoted  section 25(1)(c) of the Nigerian Constitution, which clearly stipulates that, “every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria” are considered “citizens of Nigeria by birth.”

He further argued that since Saraki  born in the UK,  he therefore qualifies as a citizen of Nigeria by birth under S.25(1c) – citizen by birth through parentage.

He also said the passport Sahara reporters  posted on its website claiming to be that of Saraki  is a forged document that “deserve thorough investigation by the UK Home and passport Office.”

According to him, Saraki has already instructed his Solicitors in the UK to write the UK Home Office to commence immediate investigation into what he termed, “act of criminality.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian senate has reacted to the reports making the rounds Saraki’s visit to Maidugiri, Borno state capital recently, was to shore up his image and boost his chances to contest the 2019 presidential election.