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The media aide to former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has challenged former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo’s claim that Atiku mobilised the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, to plot his impeachment.
Ibe said a former lawmaker who was a key participant in the politics of the 1999–2007 National Assembly had contradicted Obasanjo’s account of the political crisis between the former president and his deputy.
According to Ibe, Obasanjo had alleged that Atiku mobilised Na’Abba to impeach him while they served as president and vice president.
But in a statement, Ibe described the allegation as part of what he called Obasanjo’s longstanding attempts to portray Atiku negatively during election cycles.
He said Obasanjo had chosen to make Na’Abba, who died nearly three years ago, the subject of an allegation that the former speaker could no longer personally respond to.
“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.
He added that “it has become a pattern for Obasanjo to take advantage of every election cycle to throw stones of corruption, betrayal and other sundry allegations against Atiku.”
Ibe cited the account of Abubakar Bawa Bwari, a former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives during the 1999–2007 sessions, who he said was a major actor in the political developments of the period.
According to Ibe, Bwari disputed the allegation that Na’Abba sought Obasanjo’s removal and maintained that Atiku instead acted as Obasanjo’s envoy in his dealings with lawmakers.
“The former Chief Whip during the 1999-2007 sessions of the House of Representatives said that Na’Abba never sought Obasanjo’s removal and insists Atiku acted as his former boss’s envoy to lawmakers,” Ibe said.
Ibe also revisited the long-running controversy over an incident involving Obasanjo and Atiku during the 2003 election period.
He cited a video in which former Abia State Governor Orji Kalu said Atiku, rather than Obasanjo, knelt before PDP governors while seeking 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,’” Ibe quoted Kalu as saying.
According to Ibe, Kalu also claimed that PDP governors had considered backing Atiku for the presidency at the time.
“Atiku was almost a President. We had gotten everyone to postpone the (PDP) Convention and had gotten what we needed to move forward,” Kalu said in the video, according to Ibe.
“But he (Atiku), said this man (Obasanjo) trusted him, and gave him the opportunity to work with him. That he cannot betray Obasanjo.”
Ibe said the account challenged a narrative that Obasanjo had been forced to kneel before Atiku to secure his support for a second term.
He further pointed to the political dispute that preceded the 2007 presidential election, when Obasanjo asked the Senate to investigate Atiku over alleged diversion of funds from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
Atiku had denied wrongdoing and presented himself for investigation, according to Ibe, while maintaining that the funds remained secure in fixed deposit accounts.
Ibe said Atiku had argued at the time that the allegations were politically motivated and linked to his opposition to Obasanjo’s bid to amend the Constitution for a third presidential term.
Ibe’s statement sought to challenge Obasanjo’s version of events surrounding their years in government and defend Atiku against allegations dating back to their tenure between 1999 and 2007.
PRESS RELEASE
Obasanjo’s campaign of lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit falling apart like a pack of cards
Finally, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s campaign of lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit stacked against Atiku Abubakar for over 20… pic.twitter.com/zOam64blrQ
— Paul Ibe (@omonlakiki) August 9, 2026
