Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has questioned why former President Olusegun Obasanjo waited until after Ghali Umar Na’Abba’s death to allege that he paid the former House of Representatives Speaker N5 million to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
Atiku said raising the allegation when Na’Abba could no longer respond denied Nigerians the opportunity to hear the other side, describing it as a politically motivated attempt to damage his reputation and boost the electoral fortunes of Obasanjo’s unnamed kinsman ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Obasanjo alleged in a letter to former Governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba that Atiku invited Na’Abba to the Presidential Villa while he was away and convinced the former speaker that he should serve only one term.
The former president claimed the alleged payment formed part of Atiku’s attempt to seize power by “hook or by crook”.
However, Atiku rejected the allegation as politically motivated in a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate aid the timing of Obasanjo’s allegation showed that it was intended to influence the political contest ahead of the 2027 general election.
Atiku accused his former principal of attempting to tarnish his reputation to give an unfair political advantage to an unnamed kinsman.
“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,” he said.
Atiku argued that Nigerians were too discerning to be distracted by an allegation revived for political convenience.
He challenged Obasanjo to openly identify and support his preferred presidential candidate instead of attempting to shape public opinion through claims that could no longer be independently tested.
“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,” Atiku said.
The former vice-president questioned why Obasanjo waited until after Na’Abba’s death to repeat the allegation, saying the timing denied Nigerians the opportunity to hear the former speaker’s version of events.
He also maintained that the bribery allegation had no judicial or official backing.
Atiku argued that Obasanjo’s government controlled the full powers of the Nigerian State and could have investigated and prosecuted any criminal conduct if credible evidence existed at the time.
“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,” he said.
Atiku linked Obasanjo’s continued hostility towards him to their disagreement over the alleged attempt to secure a third presidential term.
He said he opposed the plan because it threatened Nigeria’s constitutional democracy and refused to sacrifice democratic principles for Obasanjo’s personal ambition.
The ADC leader recalled that he successfully challenged actions taken against him by the Obasanjo administration through a series of court cases.
“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,” he said.
Atiku described those legal battles as an important part of Nigeria’s democratic history, insisting that Obasanjo had not overcome the bitterness created by their confrontation.
He said he would not allow himself to be dragged into a prolonged dispute over past political battles while Nigerians faced worsening economic hardship, hunger, unemployment and insecurity.
Atiku said his attention remained on presenting credible alternatives, protecting democracy, demanding accountability and working with patriotic Nigerians to restore competent and transparent leadership.
“Nigerians deserve solutions to today’s problems, not recycled political tales from yesterday,” he declared.
