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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said that the latest allegations against him by President Olusegun Obasanjo are a “desperate attempt” to rewrite history and confer advantage on his preferred presidential candidate for the 2027 polls.
Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the former President’s allegation that he bribed former speaker, Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him was unfair “to a man who is no longer alive to defend his name.”
The former Vice President said it is difficult to ignore the political timing of what he described as “the recycled allegations,” against him.
Atiku, who is also the African Democratic Congress ( ADC) 2027 Presidential Candidate, maintained that the roots of Obasanjo’s hostility towards him are well known. He noted that his only offence was opposing the alleged third term agenda.
According to him, “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.”
The ADC candidate stated while President Obasanjo is entitled to support any candidate of his choice, he should do so openly, noting that he would not be distracted into exchanging words over historical political disputes while Nigeria grapples with “unprecedented” multidimensional crisis.
“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.
“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,” Atiku stated.
