Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has fired back at former President Olusegun Obasanjo over allegations that he bribed the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, to facilitate his impeachment while they were both in office.
Atiku dismissed the allegation as a politically motivated attempt to tarnish his image ahead of the 2027 general election and advance the ambitions of Obasanjo's preferred presidential candidate.
In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said the timing of the claim revealed its political intent.
"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," the statement read.
Atiku urged the former president to be open about his political preference instead of reviving allegations that, according to him, cannot be verified because the late Na'Abba is no longer alive to respond.
"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," he said.
He also questioned why Obasanjo did not pursue legal action at the time if there was credible evidence to support the allegation.
"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," Atiku stated.
The former vice president suggested that Obasanjo's criticism stemmed from their disagreement over the former president's failed third-term bid, insisting that he chose to defend Nigeria's constitutional order rather than support what he described as personal ambition.
"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.
Atiku stressed that his attention remained on addressing Nigeria's pressing challenges rather than engaging in arguments over historical political events.
He said the ADC's priority was to offer Nigerians credible leadership alternatives, strengthen democratic governance, promote accountability and tackle the country's economic and security challenges, instead of dwelling on what he described as recycled political narratives from the past.
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