Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has rejected former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s allegation that he bribed the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him, describing the claim as reckless, politically motivated and fundamentally unfair to a man who can no longer defend his own name.
Atiku Abubakar has a pointed question for Olusegun Obasanjo: if the allegation was true, why did you wait until the only witness was dead?
In a statement issued Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president fired back at Obasanjo’s claim that he bribed the late House of Representatives Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba to impeach him — dismissing it as a politically timed attempt to rewrite history and advance what he described as Obasanjo’s preferred candidate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
As reported by Daily Trust, Atiku was direct in challenging the moral basis of the allegation. “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?” he asked. “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.”
Atiku also questioned why no action was taken at the time if genuine evidence of criminal conduct existed, noting that Obasanjo’s government then wielded the full powers of the Nigerian state.
On the political timing, Atiku was unsparing. “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,” he stated.
He traced Obasanjo’s hostility to his opposition to the unconstitutional third-term agenda. “My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda,” Atiku said, adding that the bitterness from that defining constitutional battle had clearly never left the former president.
Atiku urged Obasanjo to openly declare his 2027 political position rather than attempting to influence public opinion through allegations that can no longer be tested.
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