₦airaland Forum

President Muhammadu Buhari has appreciated former President of the United States, Bill Clinton for his continuous support for Nigeria and the growth of her democracy.

The President, who took a telephone call from President Clinton Wednesday night, described him as a friend of the country, while commending his constant support for the peace, stability and progress of Nigeria under a democratic dispensation.

President Buhari also assured him of his commitment to free, fair and credible elections in the weeks ahead.

President Clinton, who regretted his inability to visit the country to witness the signing of the final peace accord before the general elections, wished Nigeria well as her citizens go to the polls.

“Former President Obasanjo is a courageous patriot and statesman who tells truth to power when he is convinced leaders are doing wrong” – Muhammadu Buhari, March 4, 2015.

“Buhari is sick in the spirit, body and soul. Let’s beg him to go and rest…Let’s give chance to another person” – Olusegun Obasanjo, January 21, 2019.

On Sunday, President Olusegun Obasanjo addressed a press conference at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta where he gave the equivalent of a state of the nation address which was essentially a testimonial on the performance of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, an assessment of the integrity and credibility of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) vis-a-vis the upcoming 2019 general elections, and a general commentary on recent developments in the country and the tactics and methods of the incumbent administration. This is the second time in the last one year that President Obasanjo would be taking on the Buhari administration in an extensive and provocative expose. In his 2018 intervention, Obasanjo had advised President Buhari not to bother to run for a second term in office because his performance was disappointing and even more importantly, he would need more time to go and attend to his failing health.

He accused Buhari of cronyism, nepotism, incompetence and failure to bring about the change that he promised Nigerians. The former President’s advice was ignored at the time. Professor Itse Sagay, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption who hijacked the job of the President’s spokesmen launched an attack on Obasanjo. He told Nigerians that Obasanjo is “irrelevant” and he needs to show President Buhari ‘some respect.” Titled “The Way Out: A Clarion call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement” (January 23, 2018), the Obasanjo letter then generated ripples within the polity and energized those seeking a third force as an alternative to the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress.

We should all take special notice of the fact that this was all in the month of January 2018, precisely in the third week. On the anniversary of that very episode, almost exactly to the day, President Obasanjo has intervened again. If his January 2018 letter to Buhari was hot, this one of 2019 is explosive. The 2018 letter was 13 pages long; the 2019 contribution titled “Points for Concern and Action” runs into 16 pages. But the key difference is not in the additional three pages; it can be found in the fact that Obasanjo’s tone in this latest one is not advisory at all. This is a brutal, dismissive, utterly condemnatory commentary which seeks to consign the Buhari administration to the ugly chapters of Nigerian history. The style of writing is lucid, frank, assertive, no one is left in doubt that Obasanjo considers the Buhari administration a mockery of sorts, some of its programmes such as TraderMoni “idiotic”, and its management of the country’s security situation, utterly laughable.

Having once declared that this government does not deserve a second term in office, and having shown his preference for the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obasanjo, without an obvious hint of partisanship, tells us that the Buhari administration is adopting desperate tactics to rig the 2019 general polls. He takes on the Independent National Electoral Commission and accuses it of crossing the “redline” with “blatant partiality, duplicity, and imbecility”. Imbecility! Now, that is a very strong word. According to Obasanjo, INEC can only convince us otherwise if it redeploys Ms. Amina Zakari, the INEC commissioner in charge of the collation of results who happens to be related to President Buhari by marriage, and by conducting free, fair and credible elections.

The big take-away from the 16-page commentary is Obasanjo’s concern about how the Buhari administration seems to have compromised all institutions of state, and how in recent times, it has also taken on the task of humiliating and denigrating the Nigerian judiciary. The unkindest cut is the comparison of President Buhari to General Sani Abacha. This comparison is not helped by the fact that President Buhari himself once described Abacha as a “hero”. Many Nigerians consider Abacha a villain. He presided over a period in Nigerian history, 1993 – 1998, regarded as the “years that the locust ate”. When he died, there was ‘dancing in the streets”. The people jubilated and said: “Never Again”. When President Obasanjo says we are back to the Abacha era, he is clearly saying that Nigerians are currently under a military dictatorship. He notes quite instructively, that “criticism, choice and being different” have become near-impossible under President Buhari. These are very carefully chosen phrases. They constitute the very essence of democracy and fundamental human rights - to deny citizens the right to speak, the right to choose, and the right to be different is an assault on everything that makes us human or a nation. Why for example should an Igbo person not be good enough for the position of Inspector General of Police or any other security chief position? Why must everyone who criticizes the government consistently suddenly have a problem? Why should the membership of the ruling party become a form of life insurance? Obasanjo makes a strong case for democratic principles, and the urgent need to protect those principles from being violated by those who are committed to self and selfish interests.

Obasanjo is so impressively quotable, virtually every line from his pen drips with venom and journalistic topicality, his words sound like stones, hitting their targets with devastating force, drawing “blood” and pain. He does the job of the opposition in this January 2019 piece, barely 28 days to Nigeria’s general election, better than the opposition itself. Obasanjo may not always be right, and he has had cause to revise his assessment of people and circumstances when confronted with a different set of facts and variables, but his timing is always carefully chosen, his courage to speak up is unmistakable, and he is probably the only Nigerian statesman alive today who speaks, whenever he does on public issues, with a startling combination of poignancy, histrionics and a ricocheting effect. For this reason, he manages to capture the attention and imagination of both local and international audiences.

His blistering, bleaching, blinding attack on President Buhari is the last thing a sitting President seeking a second term in office, wants or needs at this time. Obasanjo has just told the whole world that Buhari is planning an “electoral coup” against the people of Nigeria: their right to choose, their right to differ, their right to be different. In addition, he says: “It is clear from all indications that Buhari is putting into practice the lessons he learned from Abacha. Buhari has intimidated and harassed the private sector, attacked the National Assembly and now unconstitutionally and recklessly attacked and intimidated the judiciary to cow them to submission.” So, who is left? Perhaps, the media, wrongly omitted by President Obasanjo.

Whatever happens, Obasanjo has achieved his objectives. One, he has managed to put down the Buhari administration. The last time he did that to a sitting President, the opposition quickly rushed to him and made him the arrow-head of the “anybody-but-Goodluck Jonathan” coalition. Their conspiracy succeeded and Jonathan lost the Presidency. The myth that Obasanjo can make and unmake any Nigerian President became part of the national folklore, and it continues to flourish. The flip side of that however, is that if Obasanjo fails this time around and Buhari for any reason whatsoever wins the 2019 Presidency, and the myth thus evaporates, he, Obasanjo and others who are staking everything on Buhari leaving Aso Rock, may be the ones who may have to leave town. This is what their characterization of the Buhari administration tells us.

Two, whatever happens, Obasanjo and others who share his views have already raised very serious legitimacy questions about President Buhari and his party. Less than a month to Nigeria’s 2019 Presidential election, they are already hacking down any claims to legitimacy in the event of an APC victory. The APC can claim all the votes, but the election will be dismissed as fraudulent. Ahead of the elections, the APC has been set up for a post-election legitimacy crisis, the implications of which no one can fully imagine. But if the APC loses, that may well not be an issue. The result will be praised as a true reflection of the people’s wish. You may not like Obasanjo, but he is not just another voter with a PVC, the way many of his critics respond to him simplistically. He has a voice, a voice that resonates across continents. He has international credibility, the kind of credibility that transcends local bickering. The relationship between him and President Buhari has been a stuff of classical romanticism. With his latest commentary, that has ended in a bitter, feuding divorce.

Three, his statement is couched in the language of statesmanship. He is raising “concerns” and calling for “action.” It is not a crime under any jurisprudence for a former Head of State and a former President who is also a global eminent person to raise such concerns about his country. The world will listen. And Obasanjo knows.


However, the standard response from government spokespersons is to dismiss every piece of criticism as sour grapes and to impugn the integrity of the critic. This is a default position in the government-public communication process. It is so, I must explain, because what is called criticism in Nigeria can be sometimes biased, uninformed, partisan, sponsored or downright malicious. This in itself is a reflection of the level of our development. In Third World politics, the stomach rules the head, emotions suppress reason, idiots become kings, imbeciles pose as wise men. In practical politics, every political leader believes his own vision of reality. In his mind, he wants to do his best for his people. He wants them to love him. From the little that I have seen, there is no political leader who wants to be disliked. Power is like an injection: people react to it differently.

It is something about the DNA. It is also something about the level of exposure, belief-system, competence, knowledge, strength of character and the quality of the environment in which the leader finds himself. Nonetheless, when someone comes along and sticks a pin into that balloon, and bursts the bubble, those who protect the leader, and the leader himself are bound to fight back, oftentimes viciously. To that extent I can understand the viciousness with which President Buhari’s handlers have gone after President Obasanjo in the last 72 hours. I have been through that route before. When President Obasanjo attacked President Goodluck Jonathan under similar circumstances a few years ago, it was my duty to put out a quick rebuttal. I dismissed the attack on President Jonathan as “mischievous and reckless”. The President himself later took on the battle and responded to every point raised by President Obasanjo in what became a famous epistolary war in Nigerian politics. That war produced at least three books!

Both Presidents have since reconciled, and have been visiting each other, but there are persons in Abeokuta who have not forgiven me till today for responding to Baba because as far as they are concerned, it was wrong of me to support a man they regard as a “kobo-kobo” against a man they consider an icon. The Jonathan administration’s crisis with President Obasanjo had its long-term effect, but when the fire burned, it was Mrs. Patience Jonathan who stepped in to stop further responses from our end. The only witness to that story is Senator Andy Uba. I will tell that story some other day.

Despite that experience, I must confess that I am shocked beyond words by the official responses to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s January 2019 state of the nation statement. The counter-attack is pointless, for it is exactly the kind of tonic Obasanjo needs. It will be difficult to convince anybody locally or internationally that Obasanjo is uninformed or that he has some ulterior motives, or that he is sponsored. The man has earned a global reputation that grants him the privilege to pronounce on world matters with the credibility of an oracle. The totality of his public career has brought him to that place of security, and that is why his almost life-long spat with his arch-rival, Professor Wole Soyinka has not had any effect on either of the two well-placed gladiators’ reputation. INEC promised to study Obasanjo’s submissions and has offered a polite, reassuring re-affirmation of its resolve to be independent and run a free and fair election. In comparison, the Presidency has embarked on a name-calling offensive as various officials and party chieftains raise questions about Obasanjo’s moral integrity – his record as military Head of State, and later as President – the usual things – Third Term, Odi massacre, and anything else that can be thrown into the net. They forget that Obasanjo is not running for President. By calling him names, they merely reinforce his claims and the more they abuse him, the more they give further credence to his declaration that the Buhari administration does not tolerate “criticism, choice and being different.” Obasanjo set a trap for them. They have walked into it, so unwisely.

In a strange twist, Garba Shehu, the alternate Presidential spokesman, in a written response even suggests that President Obasanjo is sick, and he should “please get well soon”. He refers to him as a “coward” and a “90-year old liar.” Garba Shehu was a Presidential Assistant during the Obasanjo years (1999- 2007). Obasanjo was his boss and benefactor even if he worked directly with Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Now, the same Garba Shehu says Obasanjo is sick! Does he have a medical report to confirm that? Who really should get well soon? Garba Shehu’s current boss or Obasanjo?

The Oyo State Government has released the sum of Two Hundred and Four Million, Two Hundred and Thirty –Five Thousand, One Hundred and Eighty-Five Naira, Six Kobo (N204, 235,185.06k) for another set of 81 Retirees to offset their outstanding gratuities.

The Government said the payment was for the payment of the year 2012 Gratuity for the retired Civil Servants and Teachers, under the payroll of the State government across all the grade levels. The Oyo State Head of Service, Mrs Olawumi Ogunesan, while disbursing the Cheques on behalf of the State Government to the beneficiaries at the Old Ministry of Establishment and Training, Secretariat, Ibadan, hinted that the Ajimobi led administration in the State is responsible and committed to the well-being of both serving and retired civil servants and will continue to pay the gratuities to the pensioners based on merit without any influence or favour.

The Head of Service, who was represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service, Mrs Adejoke Eyitayo said that government was making concerted efforts to ease the pains of the
pensioners in the state, stressing that the disbursement was done to make life easier for the senior citizens, who had served the State meritoriously for the thirty-five years.

She appealed to those that are yet to receive theirs not to lose hope, noting that efforts are in top gear towards the payment of their gratuities as soon as possible. Mrs Ogunesan advised the beneficiaries not to venture into business without having in-depth knowledge in such business and abstain from
fraudsters who may want to dupe them.

Speaking on behalf of beneficiaries, Mr Kazeem Mudathir thanked Governor Abiola Ajimobi for releasing the huge amount of money as their gratuities despite the paucity of funds in the State, noted that the procedures followed in paying the money was purely on merits as nobody collected anything from them before releasing the money.

It would be recalled that State Government has disbursed over One Billion Naira in the just concluded year(2018), for the payment Gratuity for the retired Civil Servants and Teachers, under the payroll of the State government across the entire grade levels.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Labour Unions to allow his administration to concentrate on fixing infrastructure in the country rather than distracting it.

Speaking on Thursday while playing host to the Executive Committee of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in State House, Abuja, the President said:
“In three and a half years, we have improved tremendously on what we met. We are trying to do infrastructure. No matter which part of the country you come from, you will see the efforts we are making in terms of roads; we are trying to fix rails, we are trying to do power, through the use of gas and solar. If you note what we have done in these three and a half years, you will not regret voting this administration into power.”
President Buhari also stated that Nigeria was doing very well in agriculture as the country was about to attain food sufficiency and security.

While calling on the students to continue to plead with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the President assured that he will speak with the lecturers' body “so that they don’t encroach on your efforts to qualify in time.”

President Buhari said that he had explained in details while presenting the 2019 budget estimates, the earnings and expenditure and therefore expected the elite to understand the position of the government on certain issues, adding that it is the responsibility of the government to look after the employed as well as the unemployed.

The President urged the youths to start preparing themselves to lead the country and admonished them: “There is a tendency for you to think that you can do better than anybody, but it is very good for you to know the facts that leadership entails. "

He assured Labour leaders that, having been in positions of leadership at various stages in life, and with the experience, he means well for Nigerians and indeed, workers, and should be allowed to fix infrastructure so that more Nigerians could be taken out of the poverty cycle.

“I am totally loyal to this country. Whatever I do is in the interest of the ordinary people especially those who do not have the benefit of being educated like you, and are just trusting whoever is leading them,” he said.

President Buhari expressed gratitude to the students for appreciating some of the things his administration has been able to put in place and called on them to mobilise support for the government, as it strives to make Nigeria a better place.

Earlier in their remarks, the students, led by the president, Comrade Danielson Bamidele Akpan, had expressed appreciation of the efforts of the administration, especially in the transformation of the transportation sector as well as the decimation of terrorists in the Northeast.

They, however, requested the government to intervene in the incessant strikes in the education sector; involve more youths in governance, and look into the plight of students in different institutions who have been expelled for 'political' reasons.

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed heartfelt condolences to the Nigerian Air Force, and relations of five people who lost their lives in a military helicopter crash January 2 in Damasak, Borno State.

The President mourns Flight Lieutenant Perowei Jacob (Pilot in Command), Flight Lieutenant Kaltho Paul Kilyofas (Co-Pilot), Sergeant Auwal Ibrahim (Flight Technician), Lance Corporal Adamu Nura (Gunner), and Aircraftman Meshack Ishmael (Gunner), who died in the mishap.

Commiserating with the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, President Buhari said it was sad that the fine officers and men lost their lives in the bid to guarantee the safety and protection of their countrymen.

He said rather than dampen the morale of troops fighting insurgency in the North-east, the unfortunate development would rather bolster their resolve to completely eliminate all evildoers within the shortest possible time.

To the families and relations of the dead, President Buhari condoles with them, noting that the dead officers and men were heroes, who paid the supreme price for peace to reign in the country.

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has emerged the Silverbird Man of the Year, 2018 after securing the highest number of votes sent in by respondents to emerge victorious.

Governor Okowa was nominated for ensuring peace and security in Delta state, youth empowerment, sports development, as well as infrastructure development, especially road construction, even in riverine communities, earning him the name "Roadmaster".

According to the management of Silverbird Group, the prestigious Silverbird Man of the Year award was instituted thirteen years ago to recognize individuals who have impacted positively on the lives of Nigerians through their chosen careers.

The prestigious Silverbird Man of the Year award and other categories of awards will be conferred on Governor Okowa and other well-deserved recipients at a ceremony on February 3, 2019, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Justifying the award, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Charles Aniagwu, in a statement in Asaba on Tuesday said the award was well deserved, noting that "apart from embarking on more than 360 road projects covering hundreds of kilometers; Governor Okowa raised the bar and ensured continuity in sports development by completing the Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba which successfully hosted the African Senior Athletics Championships Asaba 2018, hosting of Super Eagles as well as AITEO Cup finals and the succesful defence of National Youth Games and the National Sports Festival Abuja 2018 where Delta State emerged victorious.

"Under youth empowerment, the Okowa led administration has transformed no fewer than 40,000 youths into owners of businesses and employers of labour."

In December 2018, Governor Okowa was named Governor of the Year 2018 by Vanguard Newspapers Limited, he also emerged ‘Best Governor – Grassroots & People Development in the 2018 Nigeria’s Good Governance Poll,’ organised by the African Leadership Magazine UK, the Independent Newspapers’ ‘Man of The Year, 2017’ as well as 2018 Governor of the year award, the New Telegraph Newspaper Governor of the Year in Human Capital Development and Infrastructure, University of Ibadan 2016 Alumnus of the year award as well as the 2017 Dignity of Man Award by the University of Nigeria Nsukka.

The Media and Publicity department of the State House has put together a 58-minute documentary on the efforts of the President Buhari administration in tackling the challenges it met on the ground.

Entitled, ‘FIRST TERM OF PRESIDENT BUHARI: IS CHANGE HERE?’, the documentary gives more insight into various attempts by the administration to make Nigeria a better place.

It is made up of interviews from officials of the administration with first-hand information on how the challenges are being tackled.

This documentary will air on Channels Television on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 (New Year Day) between 8 and 9 pm and on the Network Service of the NTA on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, at the same time belt.

Kindly watch.

President Muhammadu Buhari has paid tribute once again to the late President Shehu Shagari, directing that flags should fly at half-mast in military and paramilitary formations, as well as public buildings for three days, starting from Sunday, December 30, 2018.

In a statement he personally signed, President Buhari declared: "The late President represented almost the last link with the government of our Founding Fathers under Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. He was also the first elected President of Nigeria.

"The late Alhaji Shagari was a man of many parts: teacher, local authority administrator, politician, minister, and finally President. He served his country with dedication and moderation.

"Over the years, through interaction at the Council of State, he and I came to understand and appreciate each other, whatever the differences we may have had in the past.

"On behalf of the Federal Government, myself and family, I send my condolences to the people of Nigeria, particularly to the late President's family and the Government and people of Sokoto State. May his soul rest in peace."

It has become imperative to further clarify the status of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, named under the sub-head ADVISORY MEMBERS in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council announced on Friday, December 28, 2018.

Africa's richest man, not being a card-carrying member of APC, cannot, and is not a member of the PCC. He is also a member of the Peace Committee, and thus cannot be in a partisan campaign council.


Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)

With the latest refrain of the PDP linking some phantom shares in Etisalat and Keystone bank to the ‘family’ of the President, we have it on good authority that the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party and his party are set to release a series of wild, unsubstantiated allegations against the President and Vice President including their friends and family members, in the next few weeks. With the latest revelation that the said shares are rather linked to relatives of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, it has become a case of the thief calling the farm owner the thief, as the Yorubas would say in a popular proverb. These impending wild allegations would naturally border on corrupt practices without any evidential basis. The purpose is to attempt to dent the greatest forte of the President and Vice President going into 2019 elections, which is their personal integrity. The latest tactics of the main opposition is premised on the following grounds:



a) Since their stuttering campaigns started, they have felt the pulse of Nigerians and realized Nigerians have not forgotten their misdeeds of 16 years whilst in office.

b) They have decided to run a campaign of “we-are-all-corrupt” rather than defend their sordid records of merciless looting of the public purse, which has brought us to where we are today.

c) The aim is to push Nigerians to equate an Alhaji Atiku Abubakar with President Muhammadu Buhari on matters of corruption. They want to deceive Nigerians to think that the 2019 elections is really a choice between two “corrupt” persons

d) By repeating the lies a million times, they aim to get Nigerians to begin to give some serious thought to the lies. This is how the “Jubrin from Sudan” story started, before even some well-exposed and educated Nigerians were nearly converted on that issue.



e) Their latest desperate diversionary tactics is because even the most uneducated Nigerian has now understood that all the issues upon which the main opposition is campaigning are self-indicting issues, especially on the Economy and Security. The foundation for the challenges in these sectors, are firmly rooted in their 16 years of disastrous governance. President Buhari has just started a re-building process.

Nigerians should therefore brace up for six weeks of despicable lies from the pit of hell against the President and Vice President, to try to suggest to Nigerians that the President and his deputy are part of the league of looters to which they belong. But Nigerians should understand that the choices before them have never been this clear: It is between a fugitive from the law in America and a President who has never been accused of stealing anything in his entire life and is respected both locally and internationally; It is between a man who claims he wants to ‘get Nigeria working again’ yet has always refused to pay his taxes AS AT WHEN DUE and a man who has NEVER cheated the Nigerian State. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has since kept an ominous silence over this damaging allegation of irresponsible and deliberate tax evasion that is now before a court of law.

Whilst the President and Vice President are prepared and willing to answer any genuine inquiry raised about their stewardship, Nigerians should always ask the critical questions as to “where”, “when”, “how”, names, dates, addresses, etc in respect of any allegation raised by the opposition before giving any credence to it. This is because as the Atiku Campaign continues to fall apart on a daily basis, we may hear such desperate allegation from them that President Buhari has sold the buildings in Aso Rock to the Israelis or Americans!!!

Nigerians should tell Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that it is too late in the day to impugn the integrity of Mr. President, or to “package” himself before Nigerians as a honest man. Nigerians only need to read the book by his former boss, ex President, Olusegun Obasanjo titled, “MY WATCH”.



Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must bear the cross and tar of corruption alone (as pronounced by the Congress in America and his former boss). He should not drag President Muhammadu Buhari into that room of moral debauchery with him.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured a total of 312 convictions between January and December 24, 2018.

The record of convictions is undoubtedly a significant improvement from the 189 convictions recorded in 2017.

More significantly is that it includes the conviction of two Politically Exposed Persons, PEPs – Jolly Nyame, a former governor of Taraba State and Joshua Dariye, a serving Senator and a former governor of Plateau state. Both are currently serving jail terms at Kuje Prison. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Nwobike, who has been stripped of the highly revered legal title, was also convicted for perverting the course of justice.

Dariye and Nyame, who were sentenced to 14 years in prison had approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the “guilty” verdict handed down on them by a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Gudu presided over by Justice Adebukola Banjoko. However, while upholding their convictions, the Appellate Court commuted Dariye’s jailterm to 10 years, and that of Nyame to 12 years with a fine of N495 million.

With the convictions, the EFCC, led by Ibrahim Magu as the acting Chairman, has remained consistent in its concerted efforts aimed at ensuring that the negative narrative of pervasive corruption in the system is changed for the better, and the perception that some persons are above the Law, is altered.

The record of convictions cuts across the various offices of the EFCC with Lagos securing 85 convictions, Abuja with 53, followed by Kano with 36. Port Harcourt secured 33 convictions, Gombe recorded 28; Benin had 27; Enugu, 15; Maiduguri, 11; Ibadan, 10; Uyo, 8, and Kaduna, 6.

Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar disputing the assertion by President Muhammadu Buhari that the system in Nigeria allows corruption to thrive because the system is slow in tackling corruption. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar further blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for perceived failure in addressing some instances of ‘corrupt practices’ under his watch.

Let us remind Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that he is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the failed system in tackling corruption that was in place before President Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015. We know he is aware of this, hence his latest diatribe against President Muhammadu Buhari amounts to nothing but disgusting grandstanding and an attempt to mock the system.

If the system in Nigeria was indeed working, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would not have acquired substantial shares in INTELS in clear conflict of his duties as a Customs Officer whilst in office. Those shares would have belonged to the Nigerian people by now.

If the system in Nigeria was indeed working, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would not have run a monopolistic company called INTELS all these years, ripping off the Nigerian people and the Nigerian State before Muhammadu Buhari came and broke that monopoly.

If the system was working, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would have been prosecuted and jailed for various acts of corruption and abuse of office after he left office as Vice President, some of which are:

(a) For himself and his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, granting themselves licenses to build universities as President and Vice President whilst in office in clear breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers. Those Universities would have been probed, seized and transferred to the Nigeria State and the Nigerian people by now.

(b) Laundering slush funds to the United States of America using phony companies, part of which was used to fund his present American University in Adamawa State through which he is also extorting Nigerians through exorbitant fees. It is public knowledge that this indictment is contained in a US Congressional Report that has led to the prosecution and conviction of his accomplices in the US, which are William Jefferson and Siemens. They were convicted under a system that works, whilst he has been walking free in Nigeria and even aspiring to the highest office in the land. It is also public knowledge that his ban from entering the United States was as a result of these indictments.

(c) His indictment and recommendation for prosecution by the Report of the EFCC over the PTDF scandal whilst he was Vice President.

We have also read with keen interest the case filed against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar by some public spirited Nigerians alleging that he never paid his Personal Income Taxes as at when due, yet he wants to ‘get Nigeria working again’. In this regard, we are also challenging Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to publicly display his Personal Income Tax receipts for the 3 years preceding 2018 to show that he did not just run to FIRS in 2018 to pay his backlog of Personal Income Taxes.

For the information of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, President Muhammadu Buhari’s gallant efforts in tackling corruption headlong has led to the conviction of the President’s own party men and ex Governors who served under PDP and for acts they committed whilst in PDP. 703 persons and institutions have been convicted by the EFCC under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari since 2015. The biggest recoveries of stolen public funds in the history of Nigeria are being carried out by President Muhammadu Buhari. These recoveries were made from principally his party men who now wish to lead Nigeria with him. Some of these recoveries/seizures/forfeitures (interim and final) are:

(a) 407 Mansions since 2015.
(b) N794 Billion, over $261 Million Dollars, 1.1 Million Pounds Sterling, 8.1 Million Euros,
(c) 259 Automobiles.
(d) A fully functional hospital, St. Solomon Health Care Centre at 24, Adeniyi Jones Street, Ikeja Lagos e.t.c.

There are so many other instances too numerous to mention. These are a world apart from the few instances of the reluctant fight against corruption that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar claimed happened under his watch as Vice President. During his time, there was a competition for corruption between himself, his boss and public officers.

We also urge the PDP to stop making wild, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption without a modicum of proof. We have no time to respond to any allegation by the PDP without the backing of some kind of document or proof. When we see some scintilla of proof, we shall respond appropriately. And that is how we have treated the recent allegation of acquisition of shares in Etisalat and Keystone Bank by some supposed ‘family members’ of the President. No name was mentioned and no document was shown.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar latest adventure in trying to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in matters of integrity with President Muhammadu Buhari is a political suicide mission from which we thought his handlers would have tried to steer him away. But alas! They have decided to test the waters. Locally and internationally President Muhammadu Buhari stands several miles away from Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in matters of integrity. When the President used all his life in public office building a reputation and a name, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar used all his life in public office to build mansions and acquire personal wealth. Now Judgment Day has come when the credentials needed by the Nigerian people for the highest office are not the buildings and wealth but the simple quality of integrity.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar cannot eat his cake and have it.

FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)
Director of Strategic Communications (Official Spokesperson)
President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization.