Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in next month’s election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, declared, Thursday, that he would not be distracted by the weighty allegations leveled against him and his former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo by a whistleblower, Michael
Achimugu.
This is the first time he would be responding personally since the release of the alleged confession by the whistleblower.
Achimugu, in a viral video, had accused Obasanjo and Atiku of siphoning public funds through proxies code-named “special purpose vehicles”.
Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria , SAN, and spokesperson of the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its standard-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, followed up quickly on the allegations, submitting petitions against Atiku at the country’s two anti-corruption agencies- the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, ICPC.
But in a press release he personally issued, Thursday, the former Vice President said he had resolved not to respond to “personal attacks and lies” by his opponents, nor condescend to joining issues with “those who, in an attempt to cover their character deficiencies, resort to mudslinging and gutter language, in a desperate attempt to disparage their fellow contestants.”
Rather, he would concentrate his focus on how to stop Nigeria’s slide into the abyss.
Below is the full text of the press release:
PRESS RELEASE
I’m Irrevocably Committed To My Contract With Nigerians – Atiku
I have since resolved not to descend to the low level of personal attacks and lies being peddled by my opponents. Nor will I join issues with those who, in an attempt to cover their character deficiencies, resort to mudslinging and gutter language, in a desperate attempt to disparage their fellow contestants.
I’d rather take the high road of dignity and statesmanship to continue to advance our manifesto, as we continue to inform the Nigerian people of how the Atiku-Okowa government intends to stop the slip into the abyss by a country that is so blessed with human and natural resources.
I will remind them about our past success when I served Nigeria meritoriously as the Vice President in the government that has been adjudged as the best so far since our return to democracy in 1999.
I want to share our dreams and achievable development plans for our today and our future.
We shall assemble a team of some of the brightest and best Nigerians that abound within the country and in the Diaspora to assist in rebuilding our country. This is my commitment and my contract with the Nigerian people.
To this end, my priorities shall include but not limited to unifying the nation to give every citizen that is a Nigerian, every state and every gender, religion and ethnicity a sense of justice, inclusion, equity and trust.
We shall not only ensure that all Nigerians are treated equally, but that they feel safe and secure as opposed to the regime of pervasive insecurity that has gripped the entire country for too long.
We shall also be preoccupied with resetting Nigeria’s battered economy, especially finding sustainable solutions to the recurring issues of debt management, deficits, subsidies and the flagging value of the Naira.
The boosting of crude oil production, stoppage of oil theft and ramping up of non-oil exports to improve earnings are also top on my priorities.
The reset of our education, to drive our development agenda, and the restructuring of our socio-economic and political structures will be defining efforts of my administration.
In addition, Diaspora remittances will be given serious attention, particularly now that it has exceeded Nigeria’s earnings from crude oil to shore up our much-needed foreign exchange needs.
Atiku Abubakar
Ibadan
19th January 2023
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