Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address public concerns over allegations that he previously forfeited drug-related funds to the United States government.
Atiku’s remarks come in response to claims by the Presidency that he spent $1.2 million on a U.S. lobbyist in connection with his legal standing in the United States.
In a statement, the former Vice President described the Presidency’s response as an attempt to divert attention from issues of public interest, accusing the Tinubu administration of choosing “diversion over disclosure and insults over accountability.”
According to Atiku, the Presidency failed to address the key questions being raised, opting instead for personal attacks.
“When governments abandon facts for insults and substitute evidence with abuse, they unwittingly admit that they have run out of convincing answers. Nigerians expected clarification. What they received instead was a barrage of name-calling and political invective,” he said.
Atiku argued that raising questions based on publicly available records should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigeria’s sovereignty.
“No one has reported Nigeria to anyone. Nigeria is not on trial. The issue concerns questions arising from publicly available records relating to the occupant of the nation’s highest office. Those records were not created by the opposition, the ADC, or any political actor,” he stated.
He further criticised the Presidency for revisiting old political allegations against him rather than responding directly to the issues under discussion.
“Nigerians can distinguish between political mudslinging and factual responses. Personal attacks do not erase public records, nor do they substitute for transparency. The Presidency should resist the temptation to personalise issues that require clear and factual explanations,” Atiku added.
The former Vice President maintained that democratic accountability requires openness, insisting that Nigerians deserve clear answers regarding the allegations.
“The Nigerian people deserve answers, not insults. They want to know if their President forfeited money to the Government of the United States of America on account of drug-related offences. They deserve transparency, not diversion. Until those questions are addressed with facts, no amount of outrage or personal attacks will silence legitimate public inquiry,” he said.
Comments