Atiku too corrupt to be President – APC warns Nigerians

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Nigerians to reject former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential bid in the 2027 election, accusing him of being linked to a series of corruption and financial controversies.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, made the position known in a statement on Thursday, arguing that Atiku should not be entrusted with the country’s resources again.

Morka said public discourse had recently been dominated by reports and controversies concerning Atiku’s alleged involvement in local and international bribery and financial impropriety cases.

The APC also relied on recent comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who served as Atiku’s principal between 1999 and 2007, to question the former vice president’s suitability for the presidency.

Obasanjo had in August described his decision to select Atiku as his running mate in the 1999 presidential election as the biggest mistake of his presidency, saying he would not have picked him had he known him as he later came to know him.

The APC interpreted the former president’s comments as evidence against Atiku, describing him as “an accidental Vice President” and “categorically unfit” for the office of President.

“Ghosts of his sordid past continue, restlessly, to haunt and warn that Atiku must never again be allowed anywhere close to such a commanding position of trust and responsibility as the presidency,” the party said.

According to the APC, Atiku’s record as a former public official had been marked by controversies that, in its view, raised questions about his commitment to accountability and probity.

The party cited the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, the Siemens bribery scandal, the William Jefferson case, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund controversy and a United States Senate investigation into suspicious financial transactions.

Morka argued that the issues were not simply political allegations, claiming they were reflected in official records, court and tribunal proceedings, government investigations, legislative reports and international financial inquiries.

On the Mambilla project, the APC referred to proceedings before an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal in Paris concerning a $500,000 payment allegedly made in January 2003 by Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, to Jennifer Douglas, who was Atiku’s wife at the time, through an offshore company.

The party alleged that the payment occurred around the period the Mambilla contract was awarded while Atiku was vice president and accused him of failing to provide a satisfactory explanation for the transaction.

The APC also revisited the Siemens bribery scandal, citing US authorities’ allegations that Siemens paid millions of dollars in bribes to secure Nigerian telecommunications contracts during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

According to the party, about $2.8 million allegedly passed through a bank account associated with Douglas. Siemens later agreed to pay about $1.6 billion in penalties to US and German authorities over global bribery violations.

The party further cited the case involving former US Congressman William Jefferson, saying US court records indicated that Jefferson disclosed paying Atiku $100,000 in connection with a proposed business partnership involving iGate and Netlink Digital Television.

Jefferson was subsequently convicted on corruption-related charges and sentenced to prison.

The APC also referred to a 2010 report by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which it said examined more than $40 million in suspicious funds allegedly transferred into the United States through offshore companies and deposited in numerous bank accounts associated with Douglas and members of her family.

The party maintained that the controversies surrounding Atiku warranted scrutiny as he seeks the presidency again in 2027.

Morka also attacked Atiku over his position on fuel subsidy, contrasting his reported stance in 2023 with his current promise to restore the subsidy if elected.

The APC described the promise as an attempt to reverse the economic policies of the Tinubu administration, arguing that restoring fuel subsidy would place additional pressure on public finances.

The party further claimed that the Tinubu administration had strengthened the country’s foreign reserves through its economic policies and accused Atiku of seeking to reverse those gains.

It described Atiku’s proposed return to the subsidy regime as “fake and unrealistic” and accused him of seeking to “scatter and plunder” the country’s finances.

The APC also invoked Obasanjo’s past criticism of Atiku, including comments contained in the former president’s memoir, My Watch, where he accused his former deputy of corruption, disloyalty and placing personal interests ahead of the national interest.

Obasanjo’s latest remarks in August have further revived the long-running political dispute between the former president and Atiku ahead of the 2027 election. Atiku subsequently rejected Obasanjo’s criticism, saying he had no regrets about opposing the former president’s bid for a third term and accusing him of attempting to rewrite history.

The APC’s latest attack came shortly after Atiku criticised the Tinubu administration over the state of the Nigerian economy and called on voters to remove the APC from power in 2027.

The exchange has added to the increasingly combative political rhetoric ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Atiku now flying the flag of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against President Bola Tinubu of the APC.

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