Nigeria’s former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Friday fired back at his former principal, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo calling the latter a liar.
Atiku, who is the presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of 2027, said Obasanjo never forgave him for standing against the former President’s plan to remain in office beyond the constitutionally backed two terms. He also wondered why Obasanjo has continued to harbour that level of bitterness.
He also asked Obasanjo to be bold enough to tell the world who he was supporting ahead of 2027 as it was obvious he only wants to discredit the ADC candidate.
His statement below:
“As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him.
“If this allegation were true, why did he never make it while Rt. Hon. Na’Abba was alive? Why wait until the only man who could confirm or refute the claim has departed this world? By invoking a deceased man as the principal witness to such a grave allegation, former President Obasanjo has denied Nigerians the opportunity of hearing the other side of the story.
“The late Rt. Hon. Ghali Na’Abba cannot now defend his own integrity or respond to the allegation that he accepted a bribe. It is unfair to his memory and contrary to our cultural values to conscript the dead into contemporary political battles when they no longer have a voice.
“If there was indeed evidence of any criminal conduct as alleged, Nigerians are entitled to ask why no action was taken at the time by a government that wielded the full powers of the Nigerian state.
“Coming at a time when the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election is taking shape, the obvious objective is to besmirch my person and reputation and confer an undeserved political advantage on the former President’s kinsman. Nigerians, however, know better. They are too discerning to be distracted by stale allegations resurrected for political convenience.”
“My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda. As a democrat, I chose the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Rather than surrender democratic principles on the altar of personal ambition, I defended the Constitution and successfully asserted my rights through the courts in a series of landmark legal victories against a sitting President. Those battles are now part of Nigeria’s democratic history. It is evident that the bitterness arising from that defining period has failed to leave former President Obasanjo.”
He said he would not be distracted into exchanging words over historical political disputes while Nigeria grapples with unprecedented economic hardship, rising insecurity, mass unemployment, hunger and disturbing questions surrounding the management of public resources.
“The task before leaders today is not to rewrite history but to rescue the future. Nigerians are more interested in knowing why food prices continue to soar, why public debt continues to rise despite increased revenues, and why scandal after scandal continues to trail the current administration than in revisiting political disagreements from over two decades ago.”
Atiku added that while former President Obasanjo is entitled to support any candidate of his choice, he should do so openly.
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