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By Ayo Kehinde
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has mounted a vigorous defense against former President Olusegun Obasanjo over allegations that he bribed the late Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, to facilitate an impeachment plot against him, describing the accusation as an attempt to rewrite history for political gain ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Friday said the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate accused his former principal of making an allegation that could no longer be subjected to public scrutiny because the individual allegedly at the center of the allegation was no longer alive.
Titled “The grave is not a witness box”, the statement argues that Obasanjo’s final remarks were not only ill-advised but profoundly unfair to the memory of the late Na’Abba, who died without having the opportunity to confirm or deny the allegation.
The rebuttal comes after Obasanjo claimed that Atiku financially induced Na’Abba during the political crisis that engulfed the National Assembly in the early years of the Fourth Republic in a bid to remove him from office.
Reacting to the allegation, Atiku questioned why Obasanjo allegedly did not make such claims while the late former president was alive.
According to him, waiting for Na’Abba’s death before making the accusation deprived Nigerians of the opportunity to hear the other side of the story and violated the moral obligation to speak truthfully about those who died.
“As Africans, we understand the solemn duty to speak truthfully about the dead. It is deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo chose this moment to claim that I gave a bribe to the late Hon Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him. If this allegation were true, why did he never make it while the Honorable Na’Abba was alive? Why wait until the only man who could confirm or refute the claim has left this world?” he asked.
Atiku argued that accusing a deceased public official of accepting a bribe without giving him the opportunity to defend his integrity was tantamount to dragging the dead into contemporary political battles.
The former vice president also disputed the credibility of the allegations, insisting that they were never substantiated by any judicial finding, criminal investigation or official decision. He argued that had credible evidence existed, the Obasanjo administration would have possessed the constitutional authority and institutional machinery to investigate and prosecute anyone involved.
“If there was indeed evidence of criminal conduct as alleged, Nigerians have a right to question why no action was taken at the time by a government exercising all the powers of the Nigerian state,” the statement added.
According to Atiku, the absence of any judicial proceedings or official charges on the alleged corruption significantly weakens the credibility of the complaint.
Atiku further said that the timing of the renewed accusation was far from coincidental, arguing that it was aimed at damaging his reputation as political permutations for the 2027 presidential election gathered momentum. He accused Obasanjo of trying to influence public opinion through allegations that could no longer be independently verified because the star witness was dead.
The former vice president said Nigerians are politically mature enough to recognize what he described as recycled allegations resurrected for political expediency. He also suggested that Obasanjo was trying to give political advantage to a preferred candidate ahead of the next presidential election instead of openly declaring his political preference.
“If former President Obasanjo chose to take a political position with a view to 2027, he should simply declare it and allow Nigerians to judge it on its merits,” Atiku said.
Atiku argued that the lingering animosity between him and Obasanjo stemmed from his refusal to support the controversial third-term agenda pursued during the former president’s administration. He maintained that he was firmly in defense of constitutional democracy and that he had resisted attempts to amend the Constitution to extend Obasanjo’s term beyond the two constitutionally permitted terms.
According to him, the ensuing legal battles, in which he successfully challenged executive actions against him, have become part of Nigeria’s democratic history.
Atiku said the bitterness arising from that period continued to shape Obasanjo’s attitude towards him almost two decades later.
The former vice president said he has no intention of being distracted by historic political controversies at a time when Nigeria faces serious economic and security challenges. He listed rising food prices, rising public debt, mass unemployment, worsening insecurity and recurring allegations of financial mismanagement as issues requiring urgent national attention.
According to him, Nigerians expect leaders to provide practical solutions to the country’s current difficulties rather than engaging in exchanges over events that happened more than 20 years ago.
“Our purpose remains steadfast: to offer credible alternatives, defend democracy, demand accountability, and work with all patriotic Nigerians to restore competent, transparent, people-centered leadership in our country,” the statement concludes.
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