Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has fired back at former President Olusegun Obasanjo over allegations that he bribed the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, to spearhead moves to impeach him while they served in office.
Reacting in a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the allegation as an attempt to rewrite history and influence the political atmosphere ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
In the statement titled “The Grave Is Not a Witness Box,” Atiku argued that it was unfair to make allegations involving the late Na’Abba when he was no longer alive to confirm or deny the claims.
“As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him.
“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.
Atiku said relying on the testimony of a deceased person denied Nigerians the opportunity to hear both sides of the story.
“By invoking a deceased man as the principal witness to such a grave allegation, former President Obasanjo has denied Nigerians the opportunity of hearing the other side of the story.
“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 and contrary to our cultural values to conscript the dead into contemporary political battles when they no longer have a voice,” he stated.
The former vice president also questioned why no legal action was taken at the time if there was evidence to support the allegation.
“If there was indeed evidence of any criminal conduct as alleged, Nigerians are entitled to ask why no action was taken at the time by a government that wielded the full powers of the Nigerian state,” he said.
Atiku further claimed that the timing of Obasanjo’s remarks suggested a political motive, alleging they were intended to damage his reputation ahead of the 2027 elections.
“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. Nigerians, however, know better. They are too discerning to be distracted by stale allegations resurrected for political convenience,” he said.
He also revisited his long-running political differences with Obasanjo, attributing the strained relationship to his opposition to the former president’s controversial third-term agenda.
“My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda. As a democrat, I chose the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Rather than surrender democratic principles on the altar of personal ambition, I defended the Constitution and successfully asserted my rights through the courts in a series of landmark legal victories against a sitting President.
“It is evident that the bitterness arising from that defining period has failed to leave former President Obasanjo,” Atiku said.
He added that he would not be drawn into prolonged debates over political events that occurred more than two decades ago, insisting that Nigerians were more concerned about the country’s current economic and governance challenges.
“The task before leaders today is not to rewrite history but to rescue the future. Nigerians are more interested in knowing why food prices continue to soar, why public debt continues to rise despite increased revenues, and why scandal after scandal continues to trail the current administration than in revisiting political disagreements from over two decades ago,” he said.
Atiku also maintained that while Obasanjo was free to support any presidential aspirant ahead of the 2027 election, such endorsement should be made openly.
“If former President Obasanjo has chosen to take a political position ahead of 2027, he should simply declare it and allow Nigerians to judge it on its merits, rather than attempting to influence public opinion through allegations that can no longer be tested because the principal witness is no longer alive.”
Atiku’s response followed Obasanjo’s allegation that the former vice president sponsored an impeachment plot against him during his first term in office and worked with political allies to frustrate his re-election bid in 2003.
