The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed fresh petitions and allegations against him, describing them as a desperate attempt by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his media handlers to distract Nigerians from the economic challenges facing the country.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the renewed focus on allegations dating back to the political battles of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration was evidence that the Tinubu government had run out of answers to the hardship confronting Nigerians.
He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of recycling decades-old allegations because it could not adequately defend its economic record amid rising food prices, declining purchasing power and the increasing cost of living.
“When those defending this government can no longer explain why food, transportation, electricity, rent, education, insecurity and healthcare are increasingly beyond the reach of ordinary families, they rummage through twenty-year-old files looking for an escape route,” he said.
The former Vice President recalled that during his political disagreement with former President Obasanjo, the allegations now being revisited were investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an administrative panel, the National Assembly and the courts.
According to him, the investigations took place amid intense political hostility, yet no court convicted him over the allegations.
“The Obasanjo administration did not protect me,” Atiku said, questioning what new evidence the Tinubu administration could uncover in 2026 that Nigerians had not heard about two decades ago.
He stressed that the existence of a petition or the acknowledgement of its receipt did not amount to proof of wrongdoing.
“A petition is not a conviction, an acknowledgement stamp is not evidence of guilt, and repetition cannot magically become a judgement of court.
“Anyone with credible evidence against me should bring it out and test it before the law,” he added.
Atiku also challenged President Tinubu to subject himself to the same level of scrutiny, citing the President’s legal action in the United States over efforts to obtain Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) records concerning him.
“A man seeking protection for his own records has no business waving petitions at somebody else,” Atiku said.
He called for all lawful records to be made available and allegations against public figures to be subjected to due process.
“My challenge is simple: let every lawful record be opened and every allegation tested.
“Let Nigerians see who welcomes scrutiny and who reaches for privacy arguments when the files concern him,” he stated.
The ADC candidate further maintained that the EFCC was a Nigerian institution that should operate independently and investigate credible allegations of wrongdoing regardless of the political status of those involved.
He warned against the use of state institutions as political instruments whenever governments face criticism over their performance.
“You cannot feed a hungry family with an EFCC petition. You cannot restore purchasing power with recycled allegations, and you cannot make life affordable by shouting Atiku whenever Nigerians demand answers,” he said.
Atiku said the allegations being revisited would not prevent him from contesting the 2027 presidential election, recalling that similar controversies did not stop him from participating in the 2007 presidential election.
“If the old script did not stop me from contesting the 2007 presidential election, it will not stop me 20 years after,” he said.
He added that the 2027 election would ultimately be determined by Nigerians based on the records of the candidates, their lived experiences and the future they offer the country.
“In 2027, Nigerians will judge us by our records, the lives they are living and the future we offer them.
“Those afraid of that judgement may continue rummaging through the archives. We are facing the Nigerian people,” Atiku stated.
