1999-2007: Stop lying against the dead, Atiku tells Obasanjo

• Says former President can’t re-write somebody

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s latest allegations against him, describing them as a desperate attempt to rewrite history and confer political advantage on his preferred candidate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku said this in a statement on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu in Abuja .

The former Vice President stated that Obasanjo’s decision to accuse him of bribing the late Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him was not only reckless but fundamentally unfair to a man who is no longer alive to defend his name.

His words, “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 Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him.

“If this allegation were true, why did he never made 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”, he said.

Atiku noted that the allegations themselves are not supported by any judicial finding or official determination.

In his words, “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.”

The former Vice President said it was difficult to ignore the political timing of the recycled allegations.

Continuinng, Atiku said, “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”, he stressed.

Atiku maintained that the roots of the former President’s hostility towards him are well known.

His words, “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.

The former Vice President declared that 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.

He added, “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.

He said, “If former President Obasanjo has chosen to take a political position ahead of 2027, he should simply declare it and allow Nigerians to judge it on its merits, rather than attempting to influence public opinion through allegations that can no longer be tested because the principal witness is no longer alive.

“Our focus remains unwavering: offering credible alternatives, defending democracy, demanding accountability and working with all patriotic Nigerians to restore competent, transparent and people-centred leadership to our country. Nigerians deserve solutions to today’s problems, not recycled political tales from yesterday”, he concluded.