‘Unfair to a dead man’ — Atiku replies Obasanjo over N5m impeachment allegation

Former Vice President of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s latest allegations against him.

In a statement on Friday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the former President’s decision to accuse him of bribing the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him was not only reckless but fundamentally unfair to a man who is no longer alive to defend his name.

“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.

“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? By invoking a deceased man as the principal witness to such a grave allegation, former President Obasanjo has denied Nigerians the opportunity to hear the other side of the story.

“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.”

Atiku noted that the allegations themselves are not supported by any judicial finding or official determination.

“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.”

The former Vice President said it was difficult to ignore the political timing of the recycled allegations.

“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.”

Atiku maintained that the roots of the former President’s hostility towards him are well known.

“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 not left former President Obasanjo.”

He said he would not be distracted into exchanging words over historical political disputes while Nigeria grapples with unprecedented economic hardship, rising insecurity, mass unemployment, hunger, and disturbing questions surrounding the management of public resources.

“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.”

Atiku added that while former President Obasanjo is entitled to support any candidate of his choice, he should do so openly.

“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, rather than attempting to influence public opinion through allegations that can no longer be tested because the principal witness is no longer alive.

“Our focus remains unwavering: offering credible alternatives, defending democracy, demanding accountability, and working with all patriotic Nigerians to restore competent, transparent, and people-centred leadership to our country. Nigerians deserve solutions to today’s problems, not recycled political tales from yesterday,” he said.

Recall that Obasanjo alleged that Atiku funded his impeachment plot by offering the late Speaker, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, a N5 million bribe.

‘Unfair to a dead man’ — Atiku replies Obasanjo over N5m impeachment allegation