Corruption: Stop taunting me, Atiku tells Obasanjo

Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has
reacted to media reports, attributed to his former
boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in which he was
linked with corruption offences. Obasanjo, in an
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) magazine, Zero Tolerance interview, but
published in some national dailies, yesterday had
said the former vice president risked jail sentence
if he travelled to the United States.
But the former vice-president in a statement
made available to newsmen yesterday by his
media aide, Mallam Garba Sheu faulted
Obasanjo's claim.
Atiku, in the statement, detailed his past trips to
the United States as vice-president under Chief
Obasanjo administration and shortly after he lost
the 2007 presidential election to the late
president Umar Yar' Adua.
"The former president is wrong. It is widely known
that Atiku didn't enter government broke. He
declared his assets at the commencement of his
vice presidency and did so at the end of his term
as required by the constitution, which is a sacred
document to Atiku.
"Atiku, who is currently returning from China after
leading a private economic trade mission at the
invitation of the Chinese government, travels
often and has a well-documented record of
building industries and putting thousands of
Nigerians to work. And this record, quite frankly,
has been thoroughly investigated."
While reiterating that he had no case against him
by any arm of the law in any country in the world,
including the United States, Atiku submitted that,
"President Obasanjo's repeated 'jokes' about
Turaki not being able to go to America have
become cliché, tiresome and not true."
The media adviser recalled that in 2006, former
president Obasanjo sent his National Security
Adviser (NSA) to stop Atiku from travelling to the
US, saying the vice president risked arrest on
arrival. He said Turaki spurned that advice, left
Nigeria to land at the Andrews Air Force Base, the
official airport of the US government, to receive
the best reception ever on a visit to America. "So,
we are used to those taunts," he said.
He further noted that when the former vice
president left office shortly before the late Musa
Yar'Adua was inaugurated as president, Atiku
spent three months in the US, adding that if they
(US authorities) wanted him for anything, they
would have met him.
"It is time to start dealing in facts. Specifically, the
fact that Atiku's visa to visit the United States has
been recently renewed.Another fact is Atiku is one
of the most investigated politicians in Nigerian
history. And every investigation, whether
politically motivated here at home or by the FBI
abroad, has yielded the same result every time:
not guilty.
"If Atiku is guilty of anything, it is crushing
persistent attempts at re-writing our constitution.
Atiku has chosen the path of optimism and hope.
Moving forward, he will continue working to fuel
Nigeria's economy through investment and job
creation, while also passionately and persistently
defending our young democracy," the statement
noted.
Source:The Sun