BRING YOUR EVIDENCE, PROSECUTE ME IF GUILTY — ATIKU CHALLENGES TINUBU
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By: Fasasi Hammad
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to provide evidence linking him to any wrongdoing over the controversial $16 billion power sector expenditure, insisting that he should be investigated and prosecuted if there is a genuine case against him.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the Tinubu administration and its supporters of reviving decades-old allegations to divert attention from growing calls for accountability over funds generated following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Atiku said the renewed focus on the power sector, privatisation and public assets was an attempt to shift attention from Nigerians’ demands for transparency over the management of increased government revenue.
“The National Assembly investigated the power projects. I was never invited to answer any allegation of wrongdoing,” Atiku said.
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He acknowledged serving as Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation while he was Vice President but maintained that he was not responsible for implementing the power projects.
According to him, the relevant minister handled the implementation, just as was the case with the Aluminium Smelter issue.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, said he had repeatedly asked to be investigated, stressing that he left office in 2007 and had spent much of the intervening period in opposition.
He challenged the government to produce evidence of any alleged financial misconduct against him, saying he was prepared to face prosecution if a case could be established.
“If you have evidence against Atiku, bring it. If you have a case, prosecute it. But propaganda cannot substitute for evidence,” he said.
The former Vice President linked the renewed allegations to his criticism of the government’s handling of the economic impact of petrol subsidy removal.
He said Nigerians had been promised that subsidy removal would free up resources for development, but instead, citizens were facing higher costs of food, transportation and other basic necessities.
“Today, petrol is more expensive, transportation is more expensive, food is more expensive and the purchasing power of the Nigerian worker has been devastated,” he said.
Atiku also questioned how increased government revenues were being managed, alleging that fiscal incentives, waivers, tax credits and concessions remained available to powerful economic interests.
“So our question remains brutally simple: where is the people’s money?” he asked.
He further accused the administration of applying double standards by withdrawing relief from poor Nigerians while defending interventions benefiting powerful economic interests as incentives.
Atiku also dismissed what he described as sponsored social media attacks, insisting that such efforts would not deter him from demanding accountability or advocating policies aimed at improving Nigerians’ purchasing power.
“The people who removed subsidy from the poor cannot frighten us into silence by resurrecting allegations that governments with all the investigative machinery of the Nigerian state have had nearly two decades to establish,” he said.
“If you have evidence against Atiku, bring it. If you have a case, prosecute it. But if you have neither, stop manufacturing distractions and answer Nigerians: You removed the subsidy. You collected the savings. Where is the money?” he queried.
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