Atiku flags off campaign in Awka
By Anayo Okoli
Posted to the Web: Thursday, March 01, 2007



AWKA—VICE President and the Presidential flagbearer for Action Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will tomorrow (Friday) flag-off his presidential campaign in Awka, Anambra state capital where he is expected to hand over the party’s governorship ticket to former governor Chris Ngige who is believed to have arrived Nigeria for the ceremony.

The flag-off is for the South East zone. Before flagging-off the campaign, which will hold at Ekwueme Park, Atiku is scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to Governor Peter Obi, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, and Obi Gibson Nwosu of Awka. He is also expected to commiserate with the traders who lost their wares to the recent fire disaster in a section of the Onitsha main market.

According to the itinerary of the Vice President which was released at a press briefing by the state chairman of Action Congress, Chief Ndubisi Nwobu, Atiku will be received at the Amansea, the border town of Anambra and Enugu state, from where he will proceed to see Governor Peter Obi at government house, Akwa.
On whom Atiku will give the governorship flag from Anambra state, Nwobu made it clear that former governor Chris Ngige remains the party’s flagbearer for the state, saying that he will be physically available tomorrow (Friday) to receive the flag.

“Our governorship candidate remains Dr. Chris Ngige and he will be there to collect his flag. Take it from me that on Friday you will see Dr Chris Ngige live at the rally to collect his flag”, Nwobu said. Ngige left the shores of Nigeria on the eve of the judgment of Enugu Division of Court of Appeal on March 14, 2006. That judgment nullified his election as the governor of Anambra State. He has since remained abroad but he was selected in absentia as the governorship candidate of Action Congress. There has been doubt over his candidacy of the party, but his receiving the flag tomorrow (Friday) from Atiku will confirm his candidacy. Already, the number of vehicles for his campaign has increased of late.

Nobody will hijack my govt— YAR' ADUA
By Tony Edike
Posted to the Web: Thursday, March 01, 2007



Enugu—PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua declared yesterday that he would not allow his administration to be hijacked by any person or group of persons in the country saying he would only be committed to the implementation of his party’s manifesto in order to satisfy the yearnings of the people.

Speaking with journalists in Enugu after a campaign tour of the state, Yar’ Adua also dismissed reports that he was afflicted with ill health, saying that he had fallen seriously ill as to go to the hospital on three occasions in his life with one of them being as far back as 1958. He insisted that he was satisfied with his present state of health to lead the nation as present.

The Katsina State governor, who was answering questions over his reported closeness to President Olusegun Obasanjo and the likelihood that he may be under the control of the latter, said that he will remain as independent as the country’s constitution allowed him.

He declared however that as much as he would be guided by the party manifesto and will be reporting to the party periodically, he would not allow the party or any other person or group take over the running of his government but that he, along with his team, would instead be the ones to decide how best to implement the party’s programmes as outlined in the manifesto.

His words: “I will be as independent as I am allowed under the 1999 constitution. As a party member, I will abide by the manifesto of the party but I and my team will decide how best to implement it. Though I will be reporting to my party periodically, it will not run my government but would rather be in a position to pass judgment on us”.
On the reforms of the present administration, Yar’ Adua said he would continue with the programmes but would adopt approaches that are radically different from that of President Obasanjo to solve the nation’s problems, adding that his major interest will not only be to improve on what the latter had done but to ensure that the aspirations of Nigerians were fulfilled.

One of such radical approaches according to him, would be evidenced in his intended land reform programme and the reduction of the size of the Federal Government that would ensure that power was decentralized to allow the states and local governments more room to take up responsibility for the rapid development of their areas.

At times like this I wish i was in Naija, I'd assasinate him, myself, with a tasteful Sub Rifle
Baaaam, right in the forehead and he's a dead man,  that's not the end thpugh there's still [b]eternal damnation
for all the money he stole and whores he abused[/b]

Hee Hee hee

some people will still come up here to tell us OBJ manipulated the senate to indict Atiku.

That is because no matter what OBJ does, some people will never like him, ATIKU was exposed by FBI and now we have kata kata

You know one thing the retired custom guy is doing that maybe good investement in Naija right now? The guy is paying good money to Lawyers, SAN, Broadcasters, Journalist etc. BELEIVE. If you want to beleive me join any his campaign train or just be roaming around them and see how they splash money without any feeling. A friend got N20,000 just by been counted as representative while is not. A hell of money is going to these Nigerians in Nigeria. By a way spreading the loot in Niaja instead of moving the money to far east or to one swiss account (thanks to Ribadu and Interpol for making sure that African theives have been deprived of opening account outside).

At least he has impressed me on that. But of course he's not moving beyound that.

Push for Atiku's trial, Obasanjo tells Senate
By Ben Agande & Emma Ujah
Posted to the Web: Friday, March 02, 2007




ABUJA — PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo opened a new frontier yesterday in his current face-off with Vice President Atiku Abubakar when he asked the Senate to recommend the VP for prosecution after May 29 for his alleged role in the PTDF scandal.

The VP, according to him, has "demeaned the exalted office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by his ignoble act and exposing Nigeria to ridicule."
The Senate ad-hoc committee on PTDF, in its report submitted to the Senate on Tuesday, indicted the VP for misappropriation of public fund.

Presidential Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Mallam Uba Sani, told reporters yesterday that Alhaji Abubakar should be made to refund whatever amount of money he misappropriated from the PTDF account. “For abusing his office and exposing Nigeria to ridicule, the Senate may wish to recommend that Atiku Abubakar refunds the monies he misappropriated with his cronies, in addition to prosecution on leaving office,” Mallam Sani said.
Mallam Sani said the committee report had put a stop to “Atiku Abubakar’s ‘voyage of deceit.’”

Defending his principal, Mallam Sani said President Obasanjo had always maintained he had nothing personal against Atiku, other than the need to have him conform with his oath of office and stop him from subverting the anti–corruption war which the administration is waging.

“We must not, however, fail to correct the erroneous impression that the president was equally indicted in the committee’s report. On the contrary, the committee recognised the fact that the projects for which the president gave his approval are laudable,” he said.

PTDF Act to be amended — USMAN

However, the act establishing the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) is to be amended by the Federal Government.

Finance Minister, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, said yesterday in Abuja that the Federal Executive Council had commenced work on the proposed amendment.
The new law is to limit the quantum of funds going into PTDF from proceeds of signature bonuses in the allocation of oil blocks.

Until the scandal blew open, all resources from signature bonuses were paid into the fund which was created in 1973 to train Nigerians in all fields of technical know-how required in the nation’s oil and gas industry.

As a result of the scandal involving several millions of dollars, President Obasanjo, according to the minister, has already placed a $100 million limit on signature bonuses to be given to the fund, annually.

“As a result of recent enquiries received by the Federal Ministry of Finance on the funding and financial activities of the PTDF, it has become necessary for me to make the following clarifications.

“The Petroleum Technology Development Fund was established in 1973 by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Act, as a successor to the Gulf Oil Company Training Fund (Administration) Act, 1964. Its main purpose is, by Section 2 thereof, to facilitate the training of Nigerians in all fields of technical know-how required in the oil and gas industry. The PTDF, therefore, focuses mainly on the building of indigenous capacity for Nigeria’s oil economy.

“The resources of the Fund are derived from signature bonuses in the allocation of oil blocks. Up till 1999, the resources from this source were very little and in trickles. With the introduction of competitive bidding by the Obasanjo Administration, which enthroned transparency and due process in the allocation of oil blocks, it became a huge revenue earner.

“But the Act establishing the Fund was not amended, thereby compelling the payment of all the proceeds from signature bonuses into the Fund. It is, therefore, needful to amend this Act as being worked on by the executive.

“The first indication of what was going on came by way of a memorandum presented to the Federal Executive Council for the award of a $120 million contract. It was then the President became aware of the huge resources being accumulated by the Fund. Shortly thereafter, rumours of wrong-doing started making the rounds about the Fund. Mr. President then ordered an investigation.

“Subsequently at the end of 2005, the President ordered the closure of all PTDF Accounts in the CBN and directed that the resources flowing into the Fund be limited to only 25 per cent of signature bonuses, with a cap at US$100 million per annum while everything earned in excess of that goes into the treasury.

“Since then, annual flow of resources into the PTDF has been kept within the US$100 million level and expenditures therefrom had been directed at the raison detre for its establishment and in line with due process.”

Atiku vows to prosecute Iwu if…
By Chris Ochayi
Posted to the Web: Friday, March 02, 2007



LOKOJA — ACTION Congress (AC) presidential candidate, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, vowed to contest the forthcoming April polls, and promised to jail the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, should the electoral body allow itself to be used to scuttle his (VP’s) presidential ambition.

Alhaji Abubakar, at his campaign rally in Lokoja, said INEC lacked the power to disqualify him or any candidate for that matter. “There is nobody, no government agent that has power to disqualify anybody, except the court,” he said, adding: “Any attempt by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) to disqualify anybody from the elections, there will be no elections in Nigeria.

“It is only the court that has the right to disqualify anybody. They cannot disqualify anybody because they don’t have the right to do so. We are sending a message to those people in Abuja, we are sending a message to those people in Otta that any attempt to disqualify anybody, they must have hot iron in their arms.

“We must defend our democracy. The day is over in this country when you can just wake up and decide to disqualify somebody. The only person who can disqualify me is you (electorate).

“The PDP must go, they must go. The gathering here today (yesterday) has revealed the desire of the people for a change. The people of Kogi State are going to sweep away the PDP, the autocratic party, the Poverty Development Party. Today we stand before you to proclaim that we are going to change the plight of Nigerians.
“Kogi State is one of the richest states in Nigeria yet struck by poverty. You have mineral resources. The PDP promised to dredge the River Niger which it has failed to fulfil. But let me assure you that I will dredge the River Niger for you if voted in as president. They are trying to destroy Ajaokuta, we must stop them from doing that,” he said.

The VP who received the news of the dismissal of INEC’s application for stay of proceeding by a court in Abuja over the legality of the verification cum screening of the candidates while the campaign was on-going, promised to send Iwu to jail if he abused the court order.

Action Congress governorship candidate in the Kogi State, Senator Mohammed Ohiare, promised to raise the wages of civil servants in the state if voted in.

Jonathan Zwingina: “The Committee appeared to have been infected with this existing syndrome of trying to find Atiku guilty on account of the guilt of his friend, I don’t think that that is a fair assessment. I know Otunba Fasawe very well. In 1999, Otunba Fasawe and J.S.P. Nwokolo and others were all the people that were running round and arranging things for the handing over in the villa and Otunba Fasawe was one of the closest persons to the President and he used to be the last person to see him in the evening and the first person to see him in the morning and I know that as a fact.

He was a friend and I believe he is still a friend maybe a little distant, but he is still a friend. So, if it is by association of friendship and because he is a friend of the Vice-President and therefore whatever he is doing infects him and by association he is found guilty, that can also apply to the President because he is also a friend of the President because I am not aware that he has disowned the friendship but I know of a fact that they were extremely close, they were closer than he was with the Vice-President.

“So I think that the Committee and the Senate should not stretch personal association to affect business contacts unless there is a strong link. If you take your friend in good faith and that friend goes to do all sorts of bad things including robbery, does that make you a robber? No it doesn’t.

From what Zwingina said above, it is quite clear that those in the national assembly are there for their own selfish interest. Here is a case of a man who is in PDP and was on the side of OBJ before decamping to another party of recent. His house in Abuja which was being shielded because of his close associates with the President was recently demolished because of his carpet crossing to another party. You can expect anything less of a comment above from such a man like Zwingina. Naija politics is always where I chop, I protect there by all means.

Alhaji Abubakar, at his campaign rally in Lokoja, said INEC lacked the power to disqualify him or any candidate for that matter. “There is nobody, no government agent that has power to disqualify anybody, except the court,” he said, adding: “Any attempt by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) to disqualify anybody from the elections, there will be no elections in Nigeria.

This man surely dont care if his utterances cause war in this country. Noone will say now that he should be caution with his utterances, but if it were to be OBJ, every Tom and Harry will crucify him. For God's sake the above statements sparks incitement and careless talk. What else will this man not do to realise his presidential ambition?

and promised to jail the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, should the electoral body allow itself to be used to scuttle his (VP’s) presidential ambition.

“Any attempt by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) to disqualify anybody from the elections, there will be no elections in Nigeria.

atiku, the one-man-squad.
his utterances are inflammatory.

The man ATIKU has no respect for Nigerians at all. Instead of covering his head in shame he is going about telling lies against anybody who does not support his ambition. No wonder he refused to resign all these while!

This is why ATIKU should be arrested and prosecuted for state crimes. How can a vice president a public figure be intimidating order officials? this is an act of slander. ATIKU is trying to save his face by contesting the election. when will the Senate committee and the judicial system stop this slowpoke?

2007: Atiku's final battle begins

•His N60b wealth exposed • Owns 146 secret homes
•Plot to impeach, arrest him thickens

By EHIS USIAHO and KELECHI DECA

BARELY six weeks to the crucial presidential election to usher in President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor, his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, still striving to get the electoral umpire's (Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) nod to vie for the exalted post, may have received another credibility dent capable of throwing him out of contention. Apparently scared of not just losing the presidential ticket of his party, the Action Congress (AC), Atiku, who is afraid of possible impeachment and subsequent arrest by law enforcement agents, believed to have dossier on his deals, is already worried that his supposed ally in opposition, General Muhammadu Buhari's comment, that he (Atiku) is finished politically, has not helped matters.


He is also worried that his pressure on the international community to intervene in order to save him from INEC's disqualification and embarrassment has not yielded results, yet he is being smeared with more financial scandals. He is now fighting a crucial political battle of his life to remain relevant in the emerging political dispensation.


Already, Atiku's anti tenure elongation lawmakers and supporters in the National Assembly, under the aegies of the Senator Uche Chukwumerije's mandate 007, have commenced intensive lobby of the federal lawmakers to back down on the impending moves to impeach the Vice President.


It was learnt that some influential persons outside the National Assembly have already been enlisted for support in stemming the government desperate bid to muzzle Atiku's political ambition and get him jailed on some trumped up charges of corruption.


A seemingly undaunted Atiku had recently dared security agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to arrest him on corruption, insisting that he can neither be disqualified by INEC nor impeached by the National Assembly.


However, with INEC's revelation that Atiku's picture and name had been removed from the 2007 polls ballot papers, a subtle way of announcing his disqualification from the presidential race, the Vice-President, who has so far won six legal battles against the federal government's move to checkmate his ambition has decided to fight for justice and relevance in all fronts to remain in contention.


National Daily exclusively reported, in its February 18, 2007 edition, that Atiku may be impeached next month.


True to our report, moves have commenced to impeach the Vice-President since the Appeal court ruling in his favour. To this end, he is mobilizing the northern elites against Obasanjo. His allies in the National Assembly are holding meetings to try to bloc the moves. But reliable sources said that the party caucus in the National Assembly recently met with the leadership of the party and President Olusegun Obasanjo, where the decision to have Atiku impeached was made.


Recent revelations on how he allegedly amassed wealth running into billions of naira since becoming the nation's number two man may have further worsened his case. If information available to National Daily is anything to go by, then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's perception as a softie, when it comes to corruption, will have a basis. Online news service, saharareporters, claimed to have obtained a document indicating that the vice-president's real financial status, which was modest, prior to his assumption of office, has blossomed to an unimaginable proportion. The report further alleged that the vice-president has exponentially increased in his financial wealth to the extent that he now owns about 146 homes in Yola, Adamawa State, in addition to transactions that run into huge sums. It is believed that the President and his deputy have several dealings they may not open up on, no matter the depth of their disagreement.


After his retirement from the Nigeria Customs service where he had served 20 years, Atiku entered the world of business, with interest in oil services, real estate, agriculture, education, and print media, before he finally arrived at the corridors of power. Then, the vice-president owned one house, each in Kaduna, Yola and Lagos. Eight years on as Nigeria's vice president, Atiku is said to have immeasurably transformed his material status. His high profile $25 million university (ABTI- American University) in Yola, and the $8 million he allegedly paid to the American University in Washington DC for a direct license to use the franchise of the university (known as partnership and management consultancy by AU officials), is a critical reference to the investment profile of a public officer, who reportedly did not seek bank loans to execute these gargantuan projects.


When contacted to comment on the nature of the deal with ABTI- American University, Washington DC-based AU's vice-president for International Affairs, Mr. Robert Pastor, said that the $8 million figure, claimed as the cost of doing business with ABTI-American University, was "inaccurate". He, however, refused to reveal the exact cost of the partnership and management consultancy with Atiku's high-profile institution, which, he bragged, became the best in Africa, after one and half years of operation. He said the exact cost of the partnership was confidential.


In the course of his eight years stewardship, Atiku has managed to corner controlling shares in Bank PHB and Intel, an oil services company, which operates in Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; as well as controlling shares in AP Petroleum, which he was forced to divest recently in a hail of controversy regarding the ethics of his management of the country's privatisation programme. Added to all these is the control of huge assets in real estate in Yola, the largest printing press in Northern Nigeria, and the Faro private water business.
The vulnerability of the vice-president, who, in the last lap of his two-term tenure, has allegedly recorded N60 billion worth of bank transactions, has made it easy for critics to point at elite corruption in order to illustrate the failure of national efforts at constructing a fair, accountable and transparent polity. The vice-president was alleged to have diverted $125 million from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) into his personal businesses.


Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, told the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Probe of the PTDF that "Atiku Abukakar is the Vice-President of Nigeria and was the one overseeing the activities of the PTDF. He inaugurated the Interim Management Committee of the fund in 2000. He played prominent roles in the approvals for the release of PTDF funds and their placement in two banks. The VP had an outstanding interest in the placement of the PTDF funds in these two banks. For one, even the $125 million for the implementation of some specific projects was not utilised for that purpose because of their diversion to and placement in the two banks (TIB and ETB).


As these funds were hitting the two preferred banks, "loans" were packaged by TIB, even without adequate collateral, for Atiku's long-time friend and business associate, Otunba Oluwole Johnson Haliru Fasawe, through NDTV and Mofas. In Mofas, one of the directors is Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, Atiku's son. Though the name was not stated as a director of Marine Float, evidence abounds that the account is controlled by him. First, the VP admitted he paid N30 million for the property from that account; secondly, most of the beneficiaries from the account are his friends and associates. Ribadu further stated that: "similarly, as the funds were hitting ETB, Otunba Mike Adenuga made $20 million deposit for Globacom licence, the Second National Carrier. A little scrutiny of the equity ownership structure of the company revealed that Otunba Mike Adenuga lied about the ownership of the company. When the transfer of the $50 million by PTDF from its account in UBA Plc, New York was made in ETB, Mike Adenuga gave the Vice-President the sum of N322 million (i.e. N300 million on 27/11/02 and N22 million on 06/03/03) through his Marine Float account, domiciled in Bank PHB Plc, through his aides, Akinyera and Ajibade. N21 million was paid to the VP through a draft raised in the name of Umar Pariya, his Personal Assistant.”


The Vice-President allegedly held several meetings with the US Congressman, Williams J. Jefferson, both in Nigeria and abroad, in relation to business ventures, which included NDTV and Rosecom.net, an ISP. When the business relationship between NDTV and iGate collapsed, his assistance was sought to extinguish the outstanding approximately $2 million already paid by NDTV. Even though he denied assistance on extinguishing the amount, he accepted conveying a letter from US Congressman, Jefferson, to the then Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, in relation with iGate and Rosecom.net business venture.


"The vice president's business interest in NDTV was allegedly confirmed when he made an initial deposit of N30 million on January 1, 2003 from his Marine Float account in Bank PHB Plc for the purchase of the N200 million property being used as NDTV Head Office. His interest also influenced the placement of PTDF funds in TIB from where Otunba Fasawe obtained "loan" and completed the payment of N170 million for the property at Wuse. The Vice-President's interest in NDTV is further buttressed by the fact that he even acted as a referee to Fasawe for the sourcing of the licensing of NDTV in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Investigation also revealed that the Vice-President severally met contractors of NDTV at Jada, his hometown, on his interest in the company."


The burden of proof on Atiku today, therefore, rests on how he hopes to construct a coherent argument that his two decades of public service in the customs department is enough to make him the multi-millionaire and one of the nation's richest businessmen; and how he wants to lead a nation struggling to crawl out of the quagmire created by a reputation of grand corruption when he could supervise such brazen deals at PTDF and seek to legitimise it as a normal and appropriate state policy.

[size=16pt]The dawnfall of Gaytiku Begins [/size]

[size=32pt]Watch out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! during the next supreme court judgement he will run again so as to evade arrest if the court judgement does not favour him[/size]

ATIKU REACTS:

PTDF: Atiku releases 13-point killer dissent
• Says Senate Committee report is a cover-up
By IKENNA EMEWU
Saturday, March 3, 2007

If a stinker reply by Vice President Atiku Abubakar to the verdict of the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee that probed the PTDF scam does not get a solid and provable reply from the Senate, it might leave the report of the upper legislature futile in the eyes of many Nigerians.

Not only would public fund have been wasted on the act, the position of the Vice President would forever cast a slur on the integrity of the Senate Committee headed by Senator Ndoma Egba (SAN)

The document in the possession of Saturday Sun which faulted point-by-point the findings and position of the Senate which merely gave President Olusegun a tap on the back and came down heavily on Atiku Abubakar is loaded with outright accusations against the Senate of compromise and cowardice that made them provide the president a soft landing.

Much care was taken by Atiku to take the points that were in issue before the Senate one after the other, and also punched holes on each conclusion, declaring them as heavily flawed, unreasonable and outrightly lacking in fairness and justice for all the involved parties.

N250m legal fee
Atiku is crying foul that a Senate Committee with a mandate for the sake of Nigeria and justice overlooked a weighty allegation that the Emmanuel Chambers, law firm of Obasanjo’s personal lawyer, Chief Emmanuel Afe-Babalola was unjustifiably paid a staggering N250m for just registering a company for the President.
The argument Atiku has against the Senate is that there were indisputable evidences before it that the fee was outlandish for the registration of one company – Galaxy Backbone.
“The Committee in its report claimed that the N250 million paid to Emmanuel Chambers of Chief Afe Babalola, private lawyer to President Olusegun Obasanjo was for sundry services and not for the mere registration of a company. This is a false conclusion as the correspondence between Chief Babalola, the PTDF and the President clearly identified the service for which N250 million was paid. This is a clear case of diversion of public fund to cronies and at best an abuse of office.
“In his letter of 3rd July 2006 entitled: “Registration of Galaxy Backbone Plc”, Chief Babalola stated as follows:
“We wish to inform you that we have concluded registration of Galaxy Backbone Plc. at the Corporate Affairs Commission.
“We hereby ask for the sum of N300,000,000 (three hundred million naira) as our professional fees. This amount covers our professional fees, expenses incurred at the Corporate Affairs Commission, Stamp Duty Office, traveling and other expenses”. This letter speaks for itself about the purpose for which N250 million was requested.
“This was re-enforced by the request of the PTDF to President Obasanjo to approve the request of Chief Babalola. In the memo dated 11 September 2006, Maina Waziri, the Executive Secretary of PTDF addressed a memo to the President thus:
“May I crave the indulgence of Mr. President and formally recall the directives to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to effect the incorporation of Galaxy Backbone Plc. as conveyed vide Annex 1.
“ Consequent to this directive, Messrs Emmanuel Chambers was given the assignment of the company’s registration with a N1,000,000,000 (one billion naira) capitalization. This has been achieved”.

Atiku’s N30m loan/Obasanjo’s N700m
Atiku Abubakar would not understand why the Senate adjudged a transaction of N30m as fraudulent but looked the other direction in respect of another transaction involving Obasanjo with Otunba Fasawe. The transaction with Mofas, owned by the same Fasawe involved Atiku, and the Senate said it was an abuse of office. But why it declined the same conclusion about Obasanjo on a related matter involving N700m is not clear to the Vice President.
It lamented that: ‘Two bank accounts hold the key to unraveling the PTDF controversy. The MOFAS account owned by Fasawe had been accused of receiving PTDF investment in TIB. Marine Float was fingered as the account belonging to Vice President Abubakar into which N250 million paid by Fasawe was seen as evidence of business relation with Atiku. He challenged the Committee to call for the bank statements of MOFAS and Marine Float to understand their relationship with PDP.
“The Committee rebuffed the invitation. Yet, if it did, it would probably confirm Atiku’s claim that Obasanjo paid N700 million into MOFAS Account in May 2004. If Atiku’s payment of N30 million to Fasawe is evidence of his business relationship with Fasawe, will Obasanjo’s N700 million payment into Fasawe’s account not then indicate an even closer relationship with the account and its titular holder? The committee did not follow this trail”.

PTDF as Obj’s settlement outlet
The Vice President is throwing up very serious allegations to establish that the Senate erred in not finding the President guilty or indictable of using the PTDF, a government agency as outlet to settle cronies and PDP bigwigs for personal interests.
“I provided six documentary evidences, including a search result at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to establish that the PTDF was used as a slush fund where Aides of President Obasanjo were awarded mouth-watering contracts. Curiously, the Senate Ad-hoc Committee did not address the allegation.
“With valid documentary evidences, I persuaded the Senate that the same President used PTDF as front to award frivolous contracts to NWC members of the PDP. The Senate Ad-hoc Committee did not address this issue at all in its report. Even the grave allegation that the PDP stalwarts were paid for contracts awarded to unregistered companies which violated several laws, was ignored”.

Incompetent Ribadu
Because of the alleged contradictions in findings of EFCC and the Senate on the culpability of Globacom in PTDF loans, Atiku calls to question the professional competence of the EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.
His tacit disavowal of Ribadu’s job in investigating the matter arose from the unjustified proofs EFCC raised about Globacom and the chairman, Chief Mike Adenuga and concluded that: “In its report that unjustly indicted Atiku and which was reproduced before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee, EFCC’s Nuhu Ribadu claimed that Globalcom and its Chairman were guilty of using PTDF’s fund to pay for its SNC licence. This is in spite of abundant documentary evidence that Globacom paid for its license before the PTDF invested money in ETB. The Senate committee has confirmed Globacom’s claims that there is no evidence of any transaction between ETB and Globacom. What does this say about the investigative competence of EFCC? What does this say of EFCC’s sense of fairness and equity when it is realized that Otunba Mike Adenuga, chairman of Globacom had been arrested, detained and harassed out of the country and made a fugitive in the last three months by the conduct of Ribadu”?

Non-existent N3bn institute
A N3b (US$25m) transfer from the account of PTDF by Central Bank of Nigeria for an institute - African Institute of Technology, which is said not to exist anywhere nags Atiku and makes him raise questions on how fair the Senate was in its conclusions.
“In August, the CBN was directed to transfer $25million from the account of PTDF for the establishment of the African Institute of Technology.
The Senate Ad-hoc Committee in its report merely acknowledged that the institute was out of the purview of the brief of PTDF and that the approval of such a transfer by the Federal Executive Council mitigated the impact of the illegality. This conclusion shies away from the main issues:
There is no structure yet for the so-called African Institute. So who had been keeping the $25million in his custody for the past seven months?
How much interest has accrued on the $25 million and where is the interest? What is the status of the so-called African Institute in Nigeria law?
The FEC only approved the $25million transfer in October 2006 three months after the money had been in the custody of someone. Who is this person? Is he entitled to keep such fund”?

N1b Obj gun
What could be the reason that made a President vote N1b for the production of branded guns after the name of the Commander-In-Chief. The Vice President is alleging that this was one of the goofs of Mr. President, and he thought the Senate would have seen this as improper and recommend commensurate punishment for it.
He however lamented that the Senate was silent on this grave allegation against the number one citizen. The branded gun, according to Atiku is called OBJ 006.

Transcorp N2.4b deal
“Vice President Abubakar alleged that PTDF invested N2.4 billion in a consolidated bank and went back (on behalf of the federal government to borrow money from the same bank).
He alleged that President Obasanjo took N200 million from the same bank to buy N200 million shares of Transcorp after the investment of PTDF money there on his approval.
The committee did not make any reference to this allegation even though Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir el-Rufai confirmed in an interview with The Nation newspaper in September, 2006 that Obasanjo got a loan of N200 million from the bank.
‘The question is why the silence on Obasanjo’s loan from this bank since the “guilt” of Atiku was because a friend of his borrowed money from a bank in which PTDF invested its funds”.

PTDF bogus rehabilitation
He fumed that PTDF money was stolen under various disguises including a bogus rehabilitation of the PTDF secretariat with N130m.
“The sub-committee in its report said it did not have the time to verify whether the contracts for the rehabilitation were inflated or not even when the so-called one-storey building renovated for N130 million is about five minutes drive from the National Assembly. It is also instructive that by PTDF admission, it has no due process certificate for these projects”.

N20b: From PTDF to third term project
The still-born third term project of Mr. President was said to have got N20b lifeline from the milking cow called PTDF. That the Senate overlooked this claim by the VP annoys the number two citizen.
“It however did not see such “coincidence” between the application of PTDF for N20 billion on May 10 2006, the approval of N10 billion of the application by President Obasanjo same May 10, 2006 and the release of N10 billion of the money same day. The committee did not also deem it fit to investigate the allegation that the money was used to induce support for the third term bid which was scheduled for deliberation in the National Assembly same week”.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar insists that until the Senate clears all these cobwebs of unresolved and hanging allegations of corruption and abuse of office around the President, it has just done nothing and its reports would never be acceptable to him and discerning Nigerians who would always read in between the lines to see the yawning gaps.

Source:http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2007/mar/03/national-03-03-2007-01.htm

Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200703031314810

ATIKU REACTS:

Wiseman you should have known that the man ATIKU ABUBAKAR is a reactive agent. he wills till react even when caught right in the act

Maybe Italy will be inviting him next to speak before its parliament, this should occur a day
before the next ruling, ha ha ha.

All you Anti-Atiku are all a bunch of losers!

Dont yu guys have something to do with your life's than just come here and blab like sheep! DUH!

_{*curses for a long time and walks away to grab a sandwich*}

ugodaniel:

All you Anti-Atiku are all a bunch of losers!

Dont yu guys have something to do with your life's than just come here and blab like sheep! DUH!

_{*curses for a long time and walks away to grab a sandwich*}

You have shown how busy you are by not coming here at all. Probably your ghost put up this post for you.

Bwahahahaha@ Mckren

How are you?

LadyT:

Bwahahahaha@ Mckren

How are you?

Where have been all this while?

I am cool and u?

hahahaha, nice one, Mckren

Let me go and prepare my Arsenal, i'll get back to you l8r

ugodaniel:

hahahaha, nice one, Mckren

Let me go and prepare my Arsenal, i'll get back to you l8r

ok, me go prepare my Man Utd before you come .

All this boys wey dey Cyprus, make una tell us wetin Atiku promise una now??

Havent yu heard yet? ok not to worry,

When i become the next minister of foreign affairs, maybe i'll let yu in on da secret!

Im fine@McKren

@work right now, I've been here!
Nairaland go ruin my social life if Im not careful!

@LadyT

U dont log on to you MSN anymore?

Left you a couple of offline messeges

ATIKU FINALLY OUT OF THE RACE,WHAT A PITY. CAN HE EVER RUN FOR ANY OFFICE AGAIN IN THIS COUNTRY?

INEC DON SACK AM THIS ONE NA FINAL

mckren leave my lady T alone oooo, before i kill someone,abi you don dey chase my woman?