•Atiku, Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar reacted to reports linking him to a secret funding arrangement by the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ahead of the 2023 presidential election, declaring that he has never met the Lagos helmsman.
Atiku, in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, said that the allegation was not only a voyage of misadventure by the camp of President Bola Tinubu, but a campaign of calumny against his person.
According to the allegations, Atiku and the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, were secretly funded by Sanwo-Olu, while Tinubu, the leader of Lagos politics, was equally on the ballot.
Denying the report, Atiku said: “We at Atiku Media Office have taken note of reports in a section of the media that the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, through Ms. Aisha Achimugu, made available to His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007, money purportedly belonging to Lagos State. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is also credited with investigating the matter.
“Let it be known that this is a blatant lie from the pit of hell; a contrived political hogwash, and a futile campaign of calumny aimed at advancing the political interests of President Bola A. Tinubu.”
He stated that he had never met Sanwo-Olu, questioning how possible it was for somebody to engage in transactions with another person he does not know.
He also stated that since the nation’s anti-graft agency, the EFCC, had been called into the matter, he would expect a thorough investigation, which, according to him, the outcome should be made public.
He stated further: “It may interest Nigerians to note that the Waziri of Adamawa does not know Gov. Sanwo-Olu and indeed has never met him before. This piece of kindergarten propaganda is beneath the camp of Tinubu.
“How is it possible for an Atiku that does not know and had no connection with Sanwo-Olu to be having a transaction with him involving the exchange of money—let alone during the Presidential election of 2023 in which his boss was a contestant? To what end would that be?”
The former vice president declared that the development was a political hatchet concocted by opposition political elements to tarnish his image.
He said: “We wish to, therefore, state emphatically and for the record that it is a political hatchet job aimed at providing a much-needed justification to jettison Governor Sanwo-Olu, who appears to have fallen out of favour.
“Indeed, their strategy is two-fold: get rid of Sanwo-Olu and to discredit the coalition being put together by the opposition political leaders, of which Atiku Abubakar is a key stakeholder.
“To even underscore how poor the propaganda is, an unnamed Sanwo-Olu’s aide is quoted in the news story trashing his principal and adding fuel to the fire. Pray, who does that?”
“Since the EFCC has been dragged into the arena of politics and propaganda, we challenge the anti-corruption agency to make public the outcome of its alleged investigation.
“It is not just the president that is entitled to that information but the generality of the Nigerian public, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Presidential flag bearer in the 2023 election, Peter Obi.”
