The presidential contest ahead of the 2027 election took a combative turn on Thursday as the candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of worsening Nigeria’s economic fortunes, while the APC hit back by questioning his suitability for the presidency over allegations of corruption and financial impropriety.
Speaking in Akure, Ondo State, during the defection of former Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) to the ADC, Atiku urged Nigerians to vote the APC out, alleging that the party had taken the country backwards economically.
Hours later, the APC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, accused the former Vice President of being linked to past corruption and financial controversies, citing the Mambilla power project, Siemens bribery case and other matters.
The exchange marked a fresh escalation in the growing political contest between the ruling party and the ADC presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking in Akure, where hundreds of ADC supporters trooped out to welcome him, Atiku said, “This is not a campaign rally; this is a welcome rally. We are going to come back for a campaign rally; we will let you know what ADC is going to do for you, for your future and next generations of Nigerians.
“Of course, we have started releasing teasers; we are committed to returning subsidy. Secondly, we are committed to returning security to all over this country. No part of this country will feel insecure anymore.
”You know what we did between 1999 and 2007; we took Nigeria to the best economy in Africa; today we are number five. The APC is responsible for taking us down. So the best thing for us is to vote them out.
“There is this popular saying now, which is that APC Must Go! Tinubu must go! You know we had a good example in the last governorship election in Osun State. What did we see there? We saw massive turnout of voters. We also saw massive protection of our votes.
”Therefore, the APC couldn’t do anything. This is what we must make sure happens in this state, in Ondo State. We will come back and tell you what the ADC government is going to do for you as Nigerians and as people of Ondo State in particular.
“So, we thank you very much indeed for this reception. It’s not a campaign rally. It’s a welcome rally to receive our brother, our friend, and his associates from PDP into ADC. We are extremely delighted. We are extremely happy to have him back.”
In his brief remarks, the National Chairman of the ADC, David Mark, who was represented by the National Secretary of the party, Rauf Aregbesola, urged the people to support the candidates of the ADC in the forthcoming general election.
Aregbesola, a former governor of Osun State, said, “I want to appeal to you to vote APC out and protect your votes in the coming general election. I also want to urge you to go and campaign, from now on till January and February.”
A chieftain of the party and former governor of Sokoto State, Alhaja Aminu Tambuwal, who spoke in Hausa to the Hausa members of the party, urged them to work for the victory of the party in next year’s polls.
Speaking earlier, Eyitayo Jegede expressed assurance of the party winning the state in the presidential, state and National Assembly elections.
“There is unemployment in Nigeria; you can all see that there is hardship, you can all see that the suffering is too much. The journey has begun.
“We want a democratic government; we are sure of winning for Senate, House of Representatives and the Presidential elections. We are going to mobilise and unite to win come 2027,” he said.
Reacting to Atiku, the APC said his alleged involvement in past corruption and financial scandals made him unfit to occupy the office of President in the 2027 election.
Morka, in a statement on Thursday, cited controversies surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, the Siemens bribery scandal, the William Jefferson case and the United States Senate investigation into suspicious financial transactions allegedly linked to Atiku and his former wife, Jennifer Douglas.
Morka declared that the controversies, which he said were documented in official records, court proceedings and legislative reports, raised serious questions about Atiku’s commitment to probity and accountability, urging Nigerians to reject his presidential ambition in 2027.
APC stated, “The media and public discourse have been awash with damning reports of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s alleged dealings in local and international bribery and corruption schemes.
“Ghosts of his sordid past continue, restlessly, to haunt and warn that Atiku must never again be allowed anywhere close to such a commanding position of trust and responsibility as the presidency.
“As a former public official, Atiku’s record is an executive summary of some of Nigeria’s vilest episodes of corruption and cronyism that pulverised our economy and decimated public trust.
“Nigeria’s upcoming presidential election presents the electorate the opportunity to deal a final blow to Atiku’s desperate quest for presidential power and save the country from his ravenous plunder.
“From the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project and the Siemens bribery scandal to the William Jefferson case, the PTDF funds controversy, and the US Senate investigation into suspicious financial transactions, Atiku’s name is engraved ingloriously on files and dossiers of onshore and offshore financial scandals and atrocities.”
Morka said the issues raised against Atiku were not mere allegations, but matters documented in official records, tribunal proceedings, government investigations and legislative reports in Nigeria and abroad.
He added that the records, as well as international financial inquiries, had raised questions about Atiku’s commitment to probity and accountability as a repeated presidential contender.
The party stated, “The latest controversy surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project is particularly troubling. An International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Tribunal in Paris examined a $500,000 payment made in January 2003 by Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s wife at the time, through an offshore company.
“Reportedly, the payment occurred around the period when the Mambilla contract was awarded with Atiku as Vice President. Atiku declined an opportunity to explain and justify what clearly was an illegal bribe payment to his wife.
“There was the Siemens bribery scandal in which US authorities alleged that Siemens paid at least $4.5 million in bribes to secure Nigerian telecommunications contracts during the Obasanjo administration, with approximately $2.8 million reportedly passing through a bank account owned by Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s ex-wife.
“Siemens subsequently agreed to pay approximately $1.6 billion in penalties to US and German authorities over global bribery violations. Again, Atiku’s Vice Presidential soiled fingerprints came into focus.
“And there was the William Jefferson bribery case, with Atiku and his close associates falling under the scrutiny of American investigators.
“US court records indicated that former Congressman William Jefferson disclosed paying Atiku $100,000 to influence a proposed business partnership involving iGate and Netlink Digital Television. Jefferson was eventually convicted and sentenced to prison. Again, Atiku’s dark web of corrupt influence peddling and abuse of office is on display.”
The APC Publicity Secretary also cited a 2010 report by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which linked Atiku and his former wife, Jennifer Douglas, to more than $40m in suspicious funds transferred to the United States through offshore companies and deposited into over 30 bank accounts associated with Douglas and her family.
He argued that the report further raised concerns about Atiku’s suitability to manage the nation’s finances.
The statement read, “Atiku’s sudden U-turn from his 2023 policy position in favour of fuel subsidy removal to his new promise to restore the fuel subsidy regime, if elected, must be understood as his latest device to lay his hands on, and squander, the country’s 18-year foreign reserve high of over $54 billion built up from $3 billion by President Bola Tinubu in less than four years through bold and prudent economic reforms.
“The national treasury that President Tinubu has built strong is what Atiku desires to scatter and plunder under the cover of his fake and unrealistic promise to restore the ruinous fuel subsidy regime.
“In his book, My Watch, President Olusegun Obasanjo characterised Atiku as possessing a propensity for corruption, a tendency toward disloyalty, poor judgment, and a readiness to sacrifice the national interest for selfish gains.
“In August 2026, Obasanjo described his decision to select Atiku as his running mate in 1999 as the biggest mistake of his presidency.
“He stated, ‘The man I picked as my running mate, my number two, if I had known him as I came to know him later, I would not have picked him.’ That is an open-and-shut reference by the former President, Atiku’s principal, to his unfitness for public office.
“Atiku was an accidental Vice President, and categorically unfit for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Source: punchng.com
FOLLOW US ON:
