Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu administration to investigate and prosecute him if it has evidence linking him to any wrongdoing in the controversial $16 billion power sector expenditure.
Atiku said there was no reason for the allegations to continue resurfacing decades after he left office if successive governments had genuine evidence against him.
He made the remarks in a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
The former Vice President accused the Tinubu administration and its supporters of reviving old allegations as a distraction from growing demands for accountability over the funds saved from the removal of petrol subsidy.
Atiku said the National Assembly had previously investigated the power projects but that he was never invited to respond to any allegation of wrongdoing.
“I chaired the National Council on Privatisation as Vice President, but I did not oversee the implementation of the power projects. The responsible minister did,” Atiku said.
He added that the same situation applied to the Aluminium Smelter matter.
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) said he had repeatedly asked to be investigated if there were credible allegations against him.
He said he remained ready to face investigation and prosecution if the government could produce evidence against him.
“It is still not too late. Investigate me. Invite me. Produce the evidence. Prosecute me if you have a case. But propaganda cannot substitute for evidence,” he said.
The former Vice President also accused the government of using the renewed allegations to divert attention from the economic hardship Nigerians have faced following the removal of petrol subsidy.
He said Nigerians were told that ending the subsidy would free up funds for development, but argued that citizens were instead facing higher costs of living.
He also questioned how the increased government revenue from the subsidy removal was being managed.
“So, our question remains brutally simple: where is the people’s money?” Atiku asked.
He questioned the continued use of fiscal incentives, waivers, tax credits and concessions for powerful economic interests.
Atiku accused the administration of applying what he described as a double standard by removing what he considered relief for poor Nigerians while defending interventions for powerful economic interests as incentives.
He also dismissed social media attacks against him, saying such efforts would not stop him from demanding accountability from the government or advocating policies aimed at improving Nigerians’ purchasing power.
“The people who removed subsidy from the poor cannot frighten us into silence by resurrecting allegations that governments with all the investigative machinery of the Nigerian state have had nearly two decades to establish,” he said.
Atiku urged the government to either present evidence against him and prosecute him or stop what he described as attempts to manufacture distractions.
“You removed the subsidy. You collected the savings. Where is the money?” he queried.
Investigate me, produce evidence, prosecute — Atiku dares Tinubu