Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has responded to former
Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s allegation that he (Atiku) was betrayed by the
governor and former chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu.
PREMIUM
TIMES published excerpts of an interview where the
former vice president made the allegations.
In a
statement he personally signed Tuesday, Mr. El Rufai accused the former VP of
falsehood.
He said
Mr. Abubakar “has a record of spewing outright lies and innuendo against my
person”.
“As we
struggle to build a law-abiding society and secure progressive outcomes for our
people, we cannot allow the triumph on these shores of those who will have us
move to a post-factual world,” he said.
The Kaduna
governor said not even Mr. Abubakar’s expertise “in the dark arts of damaging
other people through a campaign of lies from him and his media machine” is
capable of returning the country to its past.
Mr.
El-Rufai said contrary to the postulation by Mr. Abubakar, he never had
anything to do with the incorporation of Transcorp.
“Those
that established that company and fronted it like Festus Odimegwu, Tony
Elumelu, Otunba Lawal Solarin and Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke are still around and
alive.
“As such I could not have and did
not offer Alhaji Atiku any shares in Transcorp. I declined the shares that were
offered to me. Having done that, how could I have offered anyone shares?,” he
said.
The
governor said he even advised the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr.
Abubakar, and then finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, not to accept the
shares they were offered by the promoters of Transcorp.
“My
counsel to them was based on the grounds that they would face conflicts of
interest when Transcorp bids for privatization assets.
“At the
time Alhaji Atiku and Ngozi were chair and vice-chair of the National Council
on Privatization, and were particularly directly involved in approving the
sales of state-owned enterprises and assets.
“It is too
late in the day to try to pretend that the fiasco concerning the attempt by
then Senators Ibrahim Mantu and Jonathan Zwingina to extort money from me for
Senate clearance never happened.
“All
Alhaji Atiku has just done is confirm that he paid the Senators, as I revealed
in Page 139 of my book,” he said.
He also
said when he published The Accidental Public Servant in 2013, Mr. Abubakar
unleashed his media team in a campaign of vilification.
“Despite
the viciousness of the attacks, they did not contest or explain away his
shenanigans that were detailed in the book, from the Ericsson manoeuvre, to the
Abuja water treatment plant contract and his obsession with marabouts and their
assurances of the political big prize.
“He might
also consider a full reckoning for what he and his acolytes did with public
funds in the PTDF imbroglio, rather than indulging the usual bold face of the
Nigerian big-man.
“As a
federal public servant, my oath of allegiance appropriately stood with the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, not the big men whose conduct I was privileged to
witness at close quarters.
“People
like Alhaji Atiku think that loyalty to them should be the goal of a public
officer, and that it should trump the oath of allegiance to the country.
Although
Mr. El-Rufai and the former vice president are both members of the APC,
Nigeria’s ruling party, the Kaduna governor hinted that their public spat may
be a battle for the party’s presidential ticket in 2019.
“Alhaji
Atiku is already running for 2019, and he thinks that he can make people like
us collateral damage in his attempt to rejuvenate his image,” the governor
said.
“This
obsession for power inclined him to support the rebellion against the party
that manifested in the National Assembly, and is continuing with obvious
disrespect for the incumbent president.
“Everyone knows that I support and
will continue to work for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari as he leads
our country through tough times,” he said.
While Mr.
Abubakar has not publicly indicated any interest to run for president in 2019,
several Nigerians believe he would be Mr. Buhari’s main opponent should the
president seek a second term in office.
However,
there have also been reports that Mr. El-Rufai is scheming to be the party’s
presidential candidate in 2019 should Mr. Buhari decide not to seek
re-election. Mr. El-Rufai did not comment on that rumour in his Friday
statement.
The
governor also accused Mr. Abubakar of corruption saying the former vice
president has not gone to the U.S. for fear of being arrested.
“Can
Alhaji Atiku explain the findings in the report of the United States Senate
Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations which detailed a pattern of wire
transfers of more than USD 40 million from offshore companies like Siemens into
bank accounts controlled by him and one of his wives.
“The
report detailing the US Senate findings is online, as one of four case
histories of foreign corruption in the USA. Alhaji Atiku should tell a better
tale of why he is avoiding the United States of America.
“Someone
as obsessed with Nigeria’s presidency as he is, should clear up such matters
conclusively. We wait to see how well he does with that,” Mr. El-Rufai said
...Premiumtimes
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