The corrupt leadership of Nigeria is now on exhibition for the whole world to see. While not categorically absolving himself, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, under heat for alleged corruption, now alleges the theft unearthed by the EFCC has the hands of President Olusegun Obasanjo and at least one state governor in it.
Atiku Abubakar explained the alleged business relations with Mr. Oyewole Fasawe, saying the Marine Float Account, for which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indicted him, was actually a presidential campaign account.
The account, according to a statement signed by the vice president’s media consultant, Garba Shehu, is a joint account managed by President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Abubakar for the 2003 election and not Chief Fasawe’s personal account.
The account, he said, was maintained to finance campaign activities and held in trust for Obasanjo/Atiku Campaign Organisation by Otunba Fasawe, a mutual friend of both Vice President Abubakar and President Obasanjo.
According to him, two similar accounts were kept by Chief Emeka Offor and the late Waziri Mohammed for the purpose, adding that the EFCC was duly informed of this during its investigation into the accounts.
The vice-president said it was now obvious that the EFCC deliberately ignored the fact and tried to link the account to Chief Fasawe after it confirmed it in its interrogation of Fasawe and Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju, Personal Assistant to President Obasanjo.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we assert that the account in question was a campaign account jointly managed by the president and the vice- president.
“Instructions on withdrawals from the account for campaign activities were issued jointly by President Obasanjo and Vice President Abubakar. The withdrawals for the vice-president’s activities were collected by Mr. Umar Pariya while the withdrawals for the President’s campaign activities were made by Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju, his Personal Assistant.
“The banking transaction records are in the bank and ascertainable. We challenge the EFCC to publish the bank statement for Nigerians to see the names of those who have drawn from the account.
“The records will reveal names of politicians who have indeed been used over the years to undermine the vice- president. The vice-president definitely could not have been the one funding his adversaries. The list also included names whose ties are with the presidency and definitely not with the vice-president”, the statement stressed.
The vice-president also explained that the donation of N100 million to the Obasanjo/Atiku campaign organisation by the Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye and many other donations, were lodged in the account.
“When the donation became controversial, President Obasanjo refunded N50 million and literally forced the vice-president to give the other half to the Plateau State government. If the president knew nothing about the account, why did he refund N50 million for the lodgement in the account,” he queried.
He said that he was not contesting the EFCC report on the grounds that President Obasanjo was equally guilty of the false allegations, but said that his contention was that the banking transactions on which the EFCC based its conclusion was a presidential campaign account jointly managed by him and President Obasanjo.
He challenged the EFCC to publish the transactions in the account for the people to see, adding that the report was a fabrication and malicious falsehood to stop him from contesting the 2007 presidential election.
