Fresh War Of Words: Atiku Challenges Presidency Over Corruption Allegations

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has pushed back against corruption allegations made by the Presidency, insisting that he has never been convicted or found guilty of any criminal offence by any court in Nigeria or abroad.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The response followed comments by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, who accused Atiku of corrupt practices during his tenure as Vice President and claimed that he would have faced imprisonment if he had been tried under China’s legal system.

Reacting through a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s camp argued that the Presidency’s attempt to invoke China’s judicial system had inadvertently revived scrutiny of allegations previously associated with President Bola Tinubu.

Shaibu described the comparison as a political miscalculation, noting that China’s strict anti-corruption framework and severe penalties for major narcotics offences had turned the argument back on the administration.

According to him, using China as a reference point only encouraged Nigerians to revisit questions surrounding allegations linked to the President’s past.

“It takes a peculiar kind of unintelligence for a spokesman to set out to drag an opponent before a hypothetical Chinese court, only to end up dragging his own principal into the dock.

“Perhaps, the spokesman did not realise that the maximum penalty under Chinese law for the most serious drug trafficking offences is death. Having chosen China as his benchmark, he unwittingly invited Nigerians to examine the very standard he thought would embarrass Atiku Abubakar,” Shaibu stated.

Atiku maintained that there is no judicial record anywhere in the world showing that he has been indicted or convicted of corruption, drug-related offences, or any other criminal conduct.

“The facts are straightforward and indisputable. Atiku Abubakar has never been indicted or convicted by any court in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world for corruption, narcotics offences, or any other criminal offence. That remains a matter of public record,” the statement added.

The former Vice President’s camp also questioned how Chinese authorities would have handled the issue surrounding the $460,000 forfeited to the United States government in a civil forfeiture case involving funds alleged to be connected to narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Shaibu argued that Chinese authorities are known for pursuing thorough investigations in cases involving suspicious financial transactions rather than treating forfeiture as the conclusion of the matter.

He further dismissed the Presidency’s reliance on a recent diplomatic response from the United States government as evidence that President Tinubu had been cleared of past allegations.

According to him, diplomatic correspondence between governments cannot be interpreted as a court judgment or proof of innocence.

“The Presidency should stop presenting the United States Government’s diplomatic response as though it were a judicial acquittal. Diplomatic exchanges between sovereign nations are routine; they do not amount to a court ruling, a declaration of innocence, or a rewriting of historical events,” Shaibu said.

The former Vice President also urged the Tinubu administration to shift its attention from political disputes to addressing the country’s pressing challenges, including economic hardship, rising insecurity, hunger, and institutional decline.

He argued that Nigerians would be better served if the government focused its efforts on governance rather than engaging in political exchanges with opposition figures.