Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
standard bearer Atiku Abubakar yesterday drew the ire of the President’s
campaign spokesman Festus Keyamo (SAN) over his remarks on the Presidency’s
handling of the nation’s affairs, especially the anti-corruption war.
According to Keyamo, the former
Vice President would not be walking a free man, lest vying for the presidency
if not for the faulty system bequeathed to the Buhari administration in 2015.
Keyamo said Atiku’s diatribe against President
Buhari amounted to nothing “but a disgusting grandstanding and an attempt to
mock the system.”
He said in a statement: “Our
attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the presidential candidate
of PDP, Alhaji Abubakar, disputing the assertion by President Buhari that the
system in Nigeria allows corruption to thrive because the system is slow in
tackling corruption.
“Alhaji Abubakar further blamed
President Buhari for perceived failure in addressing some instances of ‘corrupt
practices’ under his watch.
“Let us remind him that he is one
of the greatest beneficiaries of the failed system in tackling corruption that
was in place before President Buhari took over in 2015.
“We know he is aware of this,
hence his latest diatribe against President Buhari amounts to nothing but
disgusting grandstanding and an attempt to mock the system.
“If the system in Nigeria was
indeed working, Alhaji Abubakar would not have acquired substantial shares in
INTELS in clear conflict of his duties as a Customs officer whilst in office.
Those shares would have belonged to the Nigerian people by now.
“If the system in Nigeria was
indeed working, Abubakar would not have run a monopolistic company called
INTELS all these years, ripping off the Nigerian people and the Nigerian state
before President Buhari came and broke that monopoly.
“If the system was working, he
would have been prosecuted and jailed for various acts of corruption and abuse
of office after he left office as vice president, some of which are:
(a) For himself and his boss,
President Olusegun Obasanjo, granting themselves licenses to build universities
as president and vice president whilst in office in clear breach of the Code of
Conduct for public officers. Those universities would have been probed, seized
and transferred to the Nigeria state and the Nigerian people by now.
(b) Laundering slush funds to the
United States of America using phony companies, part of which was used to fund
his present American University in Adamawa State through which he is also
extorting Nigerians through exorbitant fees. It is public knowledge that this
indictment is contained in a U.S. Congressional Report that has led to the
prosecution and conviction of his accomplices in the U.S., such as William
Jefferson and Siemens. They were convicted under a system that works, whilst he
has been walking free in Nigeria and even aspiring to the highest office in the
land. It is also public knowledge that his ban from entering the United States
was as a result of these indictments.
(c) His indictment and
recommendation for prosecution by the report of the EFCC over the Petroleum
Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scandal whilst he was vice president.
“We have also read with keen
interest the case filed against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by some public spirited
Nigerians alleging that he never paid his personal income taxes as when due,
yet he wants to ‘get Nigeria working again’.
“In this regard, we are also
challenging Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to publicly display his personal income Tax
receipts for the three years preceding 2018 to show that he did not just run to
the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2018 to pay his backlog of
Personal Income Taxes.
“For the information of Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar, President Buhari’s gallant efforts in tackling corruption
head-on, has led to the conviction of the President’s own party men and
ex-governors who served under PDP and for acts they committed whilst in PDP.
Seven hundred and three persons and institutions have been convicted by the
EFCC under the watch of President Buhari since 2015. The biggest recoveries of
stolen public funds in the history of Nigeria are being carried out by President
Buhari. These recoveries were made from principally his party men who now wish
to lead Nigeria with him. Some of these recoveries/seizures/forfeitures
(interim and final) are:
(a) 407 mansions since 2015; (b)
N794 billion, over $261 million 1.1 million Pounds sterling, 8.1 million Euros;
(c) 259 automobiles; (d) a fully functional hospital, – St. Solomon Health Care
Centre at 24, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja, Lagos e.t.c.
“There are so many other
instances too numerous to mention. These are a world apart from the few
instances of the reluctant fight against corruption that Abubakar claimed
happened under his watch as vice president.
“During his time, there was a
competition for corruption between himself, his boss and public officers.
“We also urge the PDP to stop
making wild, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption without a modicum of
proof. We have no time to respond to any allegation by the PDP without the
backing of some kind of document or proof.
“When we see some scintilla of
proof, we shall respond appropriately. And that is how we have treated the
recent allegation of acquisition of shares in Etisalat and Keystone Bank by
some supposed ‘family members’ of the President. No name was mentioned and no
document was shown.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s latest
adventure in trying to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in matters of integrity with
President Muhammadu Buhari is a political suicide mission from which we thought
his handlers would have tried to steer him away.
“But alas! They have decided to
test the waters. Locally and internationally, President Muhammadu Buhari stands
several miles away from Abubakar in matters of integrity. When the President
used all his life in public office building a reputation and a name, Abubakar
used all his life in public office to build mansions and acquire personal
wealth. Now Judgment Day has come when the credentials needed by the Nigerian
people for the highest office are not the buildings and wealth but the simple
quality of integrity. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar cannot eat his cake and have it.”
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