By Clifford Ndujihe & Dirisu Yakubu
ABUJA—THE campaign teams of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were at each other’s throats, yesterday, over allegations of corruption and need to clear their names.

The Buhari campaign organisation fired the first salvo, when in a statement entitled:  “When the thief is shouting Thief; The case of Alhaji  Abubakar,”  by Mr. Festus Keyamo, the Director, Strategic Communications, challenged the PDP candidate to clear the air on graft allegations against him.

President M Buhari and Atiku

“A few days ago, the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar, called out President Buhari over certain allegations of “corrupt practices” which the President allegedly condones in his government. Whilst we have repeatedly addressed each and every of the instances cited by him to show the transparent nature of the government, it is shocking that the Presidential candidate of the main opposition has refused to issue a personal statement up till this minute clarifying in details his record of crass corruption and abuse of office.

“He is clearly taking Nigerians for a ride and hopes to distort the ethical revolution in public office that Nigerians clearly desire to his own philosophy of abusing public office to promote private interests. By his subliminal messages, he wants Nigerians to accept that becoming wealthy by abusing public office is not a bad thing after all,” he said.

Noting that the U.S Congress in a report featured Atiku as “one of the four notorious cases of money laundering in the world,” Keyamo, specifically, asked Atiku to address that report that through his fourth wife, Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, a U.S. citizen that from 2000 to 2008, Ms. Douglas helped her husband bring over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States, including at least $1.7 million in bribe payments from Siemens AG, a German corporation, and over $38 million from little known offshore corporations, primarily LetsGo Ltd. Inc., Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., and Sima Holding Ltd.”

Others include allegedly diverting $125million from a public development trust fund into his personal businesses according to a probe ordered by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and an indictment by a Senate subcommittee investigating the PTDF that he abused his office by aiding and abetting the diversion of public funds in the sum of $145 million” as loans to his friends.

“This report was a subject of a full-blown investigation by the EFCC which actually recommended his prosecution in a court of law. That report is still pending and alive till today,’’ Keyamo added.

Mere rhetoric’s — Atiku

Reacting, however, Spokesperson of the Atiku Campaign, Prince Kassim Afegbua, described Keyamo’s statement as weather-beaten rhetorics.

He said:  “These are weather-beaten rhetorics easily bandied by a phlegmatic leadership that has failed to deliver on his electoral promises to the people. Because we have rattled them by obvious allegations of financial impropriety in the dealings of Keystone Bank and Etisalat, they have suddenly remembered that Alhaji Atiku is this and that.

“First, does it not amount to ridiculous and self righteous indignation that a government that parades EFCC, ICPC, SFU,   and other anti-corruption agencies are crying wolf where there is none? When the news went out that Alhaji  Abubakar was given the USA Visa, did you not see the statement of the APC saying that the USA should not be partisan by granting him visa?   Did you not see them sponsor protesters to the embassy of USA even on US public holiday shouting that Alhaji Atiku should not be given visa.

https://newlive.vanguardngr.com/2018/12/atiku-does-not-pay-taxes-keyamo-claims/

“You said a man cannot go to America, he applied for Visa and you are scared stiff protesting the issuance of Visa. Does that not amount to hypocrisy? With all your anti-corruption agencies at your disposal dubiously and selectively applied to witch-hunt perceived political enemies, what has stopped the corrupt and largely inept Buhari administration from prosecuting him, if indeed they have any information to the contrary concerning financial misdeeds. I am laughing at their collective follies because we haven’t been able to respond to the posers put before them.

“First, who are those funding the Buhari campaigns? Will they be man enough to list names of donors to the campaigns in line with its own anti-corruption dogmas? President Buhari is known to be a poor man, especially by his own admittance, can he in all honesty tell us who the funders of his expensive campaigns? What have they done with the uncovered fraud of N5.8b and N33b in NEMA, NNPC’s mega billions fraud, NHIS fraud, re-looted $40m Ikoyi apartment recovered money, and several other underhand dealings that have become the second nature of this administration?”

Reacting further through his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Abubakar tasked President Buhari and his supporters to take a trip down memory lane before making allegations they could not substantiate.

He said,: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement by Buhari accusing Atiku Abubakar of planning to smuggle in looted funds into the country just before the February 2019 elections.

“This new accusation, like their previous allegations, is another infantile outburst that tells more about the accuser than Atiku Abubakar.

“For the avoidance of doubt, history shows that rather than smuggle in looted cash, Abubakar has a record of preventing looted funds from being smuggled into Nigeria.

“In 1984, it was Atiku Abubakar, as head of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Command of the Nigerian Customs and Excise Department, that stopped the ADC of the then Military Head of State, Buhari, from smuggling in 53 suitcases of looted money into the country.

“Young Nigerians and Millennials who may not be aware of this incident, will do well to Google it. Only the guilty are afraid. It is President Buhari who has a history of smuggling in looted funds and not Abubakar.

“In fact, Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna state governor), a favourite of the President and a chieftain of APC s, said as follows on October 4, 2010:  “In 1984, Buhari allowed 53 suitcases belonging to his ADC’s father to enter Nigeria unchecked at a time the country was exchanging old currency for new.

“Only recently, Mr. Abubakar’s plane was searched, his accounts have been perused and his businesses have been thoroughly investigated with a fine tooth and nothing remotely corrupt or illegal has been found.

https://newlive.vanguardngr.com/2018/12/abubakar-assures-naf-personnel-of-improved-welfare-in-2019/

“In desperation, the Buhari administration released this statement to cover their shame on a day that the US based International Strategic Studies Association  reported that it is the unprecedented corruption around President Buhari that has led to the recent setbacks in the war on terrorism in the Northeast and the heavy loss of lives amongst the military rank and file. May God save Nigeria from a government that values money over lives.

“We therefore, urge Nigerians to note that it was uhari who has a history and a record of smuggling in looted funds and it is Atiku Abubakar who has a history of preventing such from happening.

“And while they are at it, we urge them to tell Nigerians those behind Etisalat, now 9Mobile and Keystone Bank, now Polaris and how they suddenly possessed such wealth overnight.”