Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of sustaining a more than two-decade campaign of “lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit” against him.
Atiku, through his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, made the allegation on Sunday while reacting to Obasanjo’s recent claim that he mobilised the late Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, in an alleged attempt to remove him from office during their administration between 1999 and 2007.
According to The Punch, Obasanjo reportedly made the claim on July 23, reviving one of the longstanding disputes between the former political allies.
Ibe, in a statement issued in Abuja, described the allegation as part of what he called a recurring pattern in which Obasanjo revives accusations against Atiku whenever an election approaches.
“This time, he chose to make a man who passed away nearly three years ago the subject of his baseless allegation,” Ibe said.
Na’Abba died in 2023. Ibe also cited former House member and Chief Whip, Abubakar Bwari, whose account he said contradicted Obasanjo’s version of events.
According to Bwari, Atiku acted as an emissary to lawmakers on behalf of Obasanjo, rather than mobilising them to remove the former president.
Ibe also cited a video in which former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, described Atiku as the person who sought PDP governors’ support for Obasanjo’s second-term bid.
“Atiku knelt down; we were like 17 governors. He knelt down for us and said that he does not want to be disloyal to Obasanjo. That four years is like four days,” Kalu was quoted as saying.
Kalu also reportedly said some PDP governors had been working towards a scenario that could have paved the way for Atiku to become president, but that Atiku rejected the plan.
“Atiku was almost a President. We had gotten everyone to postpone the (PDP) convention and had gotten what we needed to move forward, but he (Atiku) said this man (Obasanjo) trusted him, and allowed him to work with him. That he cannot betray Obasanjo,” Kalu said, according to the statement.
The Atiku camp further revisited the controversial investigation into the Petroleum Technology Development Fund shortly before the 2007 presidential election.
Obasanjo had asked the Senate to investigate alleged financial impropriety involving the PTDF, while Atiku denied wrongdoing and said the funds under scrutiny were kept in fixed deposit accounts. He also alleged that the investigation was politically motivated and linked to his opposition to Obasanjo’s third-term bid.
Ibe cited the autobiography of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, titled Awujale, to challenge the narrative surrounding the PTDF controversy.
According to the statement, Oba Adetona wrote that EFCC officials stormed the Lagos residence of Globacom Chairman, Mike Adenuga, on July 9, 2006, broke through the gate and detained him over an alleged investigation involving PTDF funds.
“The EFCC purportedly were on the trail of some money belonging to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, but there was really more beneath the veneer,” Oba Adetona wrote, according to the statement.
Ibe alleged that the investigation was intended to establish a connection between Adenuga and Atiku over claims involving PTDF funds.
He rejected claims that Adenuga financed Globacom’s operating licence with PTDF money, saying the businessman obtained funding from BNP Paribas Bank.
The statement further cited Oba Adetona’s account that Obasanjo later met Adenuga at a social gathering and invited him to Ota, where he allegedly sought his support for the construction of an administrative block at Bells University.
“Mike agreed, and Cachez Turnkey Projects Ltd handled the project for him,” the statement quoted Oba Adetona as writing.
Ibe said Adenuga eventually left Nigeria amid what he described as continued EFCC harassment and returned after Obasanjo left office.
The latest exchange adds to the longstanding rivalry between Obasanjo and Atiku, who were political allies when Obasanjo picked Atiku as his running mate in 1999.
They won re-election in 2003 before falling out over political succession, corruption allegations and Obasanjo’s third-term ambition.
Atiku later left the PDP and contested the 2007 presidential election under the Action Congress.
He is currently the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress for the 2027 election.
Obasanjo has yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
His Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, said when contacted, “No comment.”
