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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed allegations by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he bribed the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, to initiate impeachment proceedings against him, accusing the former president of dragging a deceased statesman into political disputes.
In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the allegation as an attempt to rewrite history and influence the political atmosphere in the lead-up to the 2027 general election.
He argued that it was unfair to make claims involving Na’Abba after his death, saying the late lawmaker could no longer respond to or refute the accusations.
Atiku questioned why Obasanjo did not make the allegation while Na’Abba was alive if there was any evidence to support it, adding that invoking the late Speaker denied Nigerians the opportunity to hear the other side of the story.
“As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt Hon Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him.
“If this allegation were true, why did he never make it while Rt Hon Na’Abba was alive? Why wait until the only man who could confirm or refute the claim has departed this world?” Atiku asked.
“By invoking a deceased man as the principal witness to such a grave allegation, former President Obasanjo has denied Nigerians the opportunity of hearing the other side of the story.
“The late Rt Hon Ghali Na’Abba cannot now defend his own integrity or respond to the allegation that he accepted a bribe. It is unfair to his memory and contrary to our cultural values to conscript the dead into contemporary political battles when they no longer have a voice,” he added.
He also challenged the former president to explain why no legal action was taken at the time if the alleged bribery had indeed occurred.
The former vice president alleged that the timing of Obasanjo’s remarks suggested a political motive, claiming they were intended to tarnish his image and benefit another presidential aspirant ahead of the 2027 election.
“If there was indeed evidence of any criminal conduct as alleged, Nigerians are entitled to ask why no action was taken at the time by a government that wielded the full powers of the Nigerian state,” he said.
“Coming at a time when the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election is taking shape, the obvious objective is to besmirch my person and reputation and confer an undeserved political advantage on the former president’s kinsman. Nigerians, however, know better. They are too discerning to be distracted by stale allegations resurrected for political convenience.”
Atiku also revisited his political fallout with Obasanjo, saying it stemmed from his opposition to what he described as the former president’s third-term agenda.
He maintained that he chose to defend the Constitution through the courts rather than support efforts to extend Obasanjo’s tenure beyond constitutional limits.
“My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda. As a democrat, I chose the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Rather than surrender democratic principles on the altar of personal ambition, I defended the Constitution and successfully asserted my rights through the courts in a series of landmark legal victories against a sitting President.
“It is evident that the bitterness arising from that defining period has failed to leave former President Obasanjo,” he said.
According to Atiku, Nigerians are more concerned about the country’s current economic challenges than political disputes dating back more than two decades.
He added that if Obasanjo had chosen to support a particular presidential aspirant for the 2027 election, he should openly declare that position instead of relying on allegations that could no longer be independently verified.
“The task before leaders today is not to rewrite history but to rescue the future. Nigerians are more interested in knowing why food prices continue to soar, why public debt continues to rise despite increased revenues, and why scandal after scandal continues to trail the current administration than in revisiting political disagreements from over two decades ago,” he said.
“If former President Obasanjo has chosen to take a political position ahead of 2027, he should simply declare it and allow Nigerians to judge it on its merits, rather than attempting to influence public opinion through allegations that can no longer be tested because the principal witness is no longer alive.”
Atiku’s reaction followed claims by Obasanjo that the former vice president sponsored an impeachment plot against him during his first term in office and also worked with political allies to frustrate his re-election bid in 2003.
In a statement released on Thursday, Obasanjo alleged that Atiku gave Na’Abba N5 million to commence impeachment proceedings, claiming the development was documented and reported to him by his then Chief of Staff.
Obasanjo had on Thursday rejected former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba’s account of the political events leading to the 2003 general elections, among other issues.
In a lengthy statement titled “Reply to Your Inaccurate Posture: ‘How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003’,” the former President described Osoba’s article, published in The Legal Observer on July 20, as inaccurate, incomplete and “farfetched.”
Obasanjo alleged that Atiku gave Na’Abba N5 million to commence impeachment proceedings, claiming the development was documented and reported to him by his then chief of staff.
Obasanjo’s release partly read, “And that takes me to Na’Abba’s impeachment you glowingly talked about. And the way you wrote about it, talking about remorse, would suggest stack ignorance on your part or being an accomplice. And both were possible.
“Na’Abba’s impeachment began at the presidency by the Vice-President, who, on a Friday when I was out of the office, invited Na’Abba to his office and convinced him, as he had convinced himself and some others, but of insignificant number, that I should have only one term as President, and this was the act of a man I brought up from governorship to Vice-President.
“From the first day as Vice President, he raised campaigners for his presidency. On the Friday, he invited Na’Abba; he gave him N5 million to begin his impeachment work. It was all noted, recorded and reported to me by my chief of staff, a professional intelligence officer.”
