The media adviser to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of carrying out a campaign of lies against his principal.
He alleged that Obasanjo has repeatedly used election periods to revive allegations of corruption, betrayal and political misconduct against Atiku.
NEWSNGR reports that he stated this in a statement. He was reacting to a claim by Obasanjo that Atiku had mobilised the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, to impeach him while they were in office.
Ibe described the allegation as baseless, noting that Na’Abba, who died in December 2023, could no longer respond to the claim.
“Finally, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s campaign of lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit stacked against Atiku Abubakar for over 20 years, for political expediency, is falling apart like a pack of cards.
“On July 23, Chief Obasanjo alleged that his deputy (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, mobilised the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him,” Ibe said.
According to Ibe, the allegation had been contradicted by Abubakar Bawa Bwari, a former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives who was involved in the politics of the period.
Ibe said Bwari had stated that Na’Abba never sought Obasanjo’s removal and that Atiku had instead acted as Obasanjo’s envoy to lawmakers.
The ADC presidential candidate’s aide also disputed accounts that Obasanjo had knelt before Atiku to secure his support for a second presidential term in 2003.
He cited a video involving former Abia State Governor Orji Kalu, who reportedly said Atiku was the one who knelt before PDP governors to seek their support for Obasanjo’s re-election.
“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 said in the video, according to Ibe.
Ibe further quoted Kalu as saying that the PDP governors had been preparing to replace Obasanjo with Atiku because of the former president’s alleged authoritarian tendencies.
“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 gave him the opportunity to work with him. That he cannot betray Obasanjo,” Kalu said.
Ibe also revisited the controversy surrounding the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in the lead-up to the 2007 presidential election.
He said Obasanjo had written to the Senate seeking an investigation into Atiku over alleged diversion of PTDF funds.
According to Ibe, Atiku temporarily waived his immunity to appear before the probe and maintained that the funds were secure in fixed deposit accounts.
The former vice president, Ibe said, had argued that the allegations were politically motivated and intended to undermine his presidential ambition because of his opposition to Obasanjo’s bid for a third term in office.
Ibe also referred to the autobiography of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, titled Awujale, alleging that the former monarch documented how Obasanjo allegedly used the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), then headed by Nuhu Ribadu, against businessman Mike Adenuga in connection with the PTDF controversy.
