Isaac Samuel
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed allegations by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he bribed the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, to commence impeachment proceedings against him.
The former vice president described the claim as false, politically motivated and aimed at influencing the 2027 presidential race.
In a statement issued on Friday by his media office, Atiku argued that Obasanjo’s latest remarks were driven by lingering resentment over his opposition to the former president’s failed third-term agenda, insisting that Nigerians would not be distracted by what he described as recycled allegations.
The exchange followed claims by Obasanjo in a statement responding to former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba’s account of political events during the Fourth Republic. .
In the statement, the former president alleged that Atiku gave Na’Abba N5 million to initiate impeachment proceedings against him during their time in office.
Responding, Atiku questioned why Obasanjo chose to raise the allegation only after the death of the former Speaker.
“As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him,” Atiku said.
He argued that if the allegation had any basis, Obasanjo should have made it while Na’Abba was alive.
“If this allegation were true, why did he never make it while Rt. Hon. Na’Abba was alive? Why wait until the only man who could confirm or refute the claim has departed this world?” he asked.
According to Atiku, accusing a deceased person of participating in a bribery scheme without giving him the opportunity to defend himself was unfair and contrary to African values.
“The late Rt. Hon. Ghali Na’Abba cannot now defend his own integrity or respond to the allegation that he accepted a bribe. It is unfair to his memory and contrary to our cultural values to conscript the dead into contemporary political battles when they no longer have a voice.”
The former vice president also challenged Obasanjo to explain why no action was taken against him if there was evidence of wrongdoing.
“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 further alleged that the timing of the accusation was intended to tarnish his image ahead of the 2027 general election.
“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 ADC presidential candidate maintained that the real source of Obasanjo’s grievance was his refusal to support the former president’s controversial attempt to secure a third term in office.
“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.”
While declining to engage in what he described as historical political disputes, Atiku said Nigeria’s current challenges should occupy the attention of political leaders.
“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,” he said.
He added that although Obasanjo was free to support any candidate in the 2027 presidential election, he should do so openly rather than seeking to discredit political opponents through public allegations.
The latest exchange revives the long-running political rivalry between the two men, whose relationship deteriorated during their second term in office over the controversial third-term agenda.
The disagreement eventually led to a series of legal and political confrontations that shaped Nigeria’s democratic history and culminated in Atiku’s departure from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2007 general election.
