Atiku goes for broke against Tinubu
…Presidency sent Govs’ delegation to beg me, he alleges
…Rallies Obi, Kwankwaso, youths, Nigerians to stand up for truth, morality in governance
…’How I saved Tinubu’s political career from Obasanjo’
…APC mocks Atiku, says he has no case
By Tunde Opalana
Presidential candidate of main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday revealed that a strong delegation of unidentified state governors was sent to pressure him out of his cause to unearth to Nigerians and the world discrepancies in President Bola Tinubu’s past, but that he rebuffed the move.
Abubakar, more popularly known as Atiku, claimed that the delegation told him that it was Tinubu who sent them.
He spoke at a world press conference in Abuja, where he justified his recourse to United States (U.S) courts to unfurl alleged opaque details of the President’s academic records’ accurate history during his time as a student there, in order to strengthen his (Atiku’s) case pending before the Nigerian Supreme Court that Tinubu allegedly was not eligible to contest the February 25, 2023 presidential poll which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said he won.
Atiku justified his judicial campaign offshore as based on the imperative to enthrone the majesty of truth, accountability, probity, ethics and constitutionalism among elective office holders in the country.
He rallied other leaders, naming them as Labour Party (LP)’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)’s flagbearer, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians to rise up in defence of truth for a better nation.
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Responding to a question on whether he was under pressure to halt further probing of Tinubu, Atiku affirmed same, saying emissaries from the Presidency actually reached out to him, but he denied them audience.
He said: “Yes, immediately after the election I was told there was a delegation of Governors who claimed they were sent by the President, but I did not allow them to get into my house. I did not.”
He vowed not to yield to pressures from any quarters to derail his course of probing the educational background of President Tinubu.
He said he will not backtrack because the legal battle is larger than him as a person, but an attempt to uphold and defend the grundnorm of elective government in the country.
“This quest is not for or about Atiku Abubakar. It is a quest for the enthronement of truth, morality, and accountability in our public affairs,” he said.
Atiku, who was the nation’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007, said he would pursue to a logical conclusion at the Supreme Court his challenge of declaration of Tinubu as President by INEC.
Further asked if his businesses will not be made targets by vindictive agents of government of the day, should he refuse to yield to pressure, Atiku said he will not sacrifice national interest for his personal business.
According to him, because he went to court challenging former President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the poll, he (Buhari) descended on him, stifling his lucrative oil logistics business with the firm allegedly distributed to cronies of those in power at that time. Atiku said right now, he has no company presently doing government jobs.
The PDP candidate said: “As you must have read in many places I was the founder of one of the biggest logistics company since the military era, and as soon as Buhari came to power, even though we had licenses and we had nothing to do with government, we are just contractors to the oil companies; as soon as Buhari came, all those contracts were revoked and taken away from us till today. So I am not doing any government business.
“Yes, I am in other businesses –agriculture, manufacturing and so and so forth– so, I am not scared of any business being taken away from me. It has already been taken away from me since the Buhari administration. They took it and distributed out among themselves.”
On when he would drop the current fight, he said he will not shift ground.
Atiku said: “I would only drop the fight when the court rules. If the court rules that I am right, if the court rules that he is right, that is the end of the fight. At the moment we are at the Supreme Court and there is no any higher court than the Supreme Court.”
Reacting to an allegation by Tinubu’s ally that he was fighting dirty without recourse to the friendship that existed between him and the President, Atiku said he has not stabbed Tinubu in the back, saying rather that as Vice President, he saved Tinubu’s political relevance.
Atiku revealed: “In 2007, we came together to form Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). And in Lagos at the convention, I emerged and I got the ticket.
“And after the convention a few of our friends who are here, met me and told me Bola wants to be my running mate. So, I asked of their opinion on Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“All of them said they objected. So, I asked them why didn’t they tell him. So, that was the end of our political relationship. He broke away as he went ahead and supported Yar’Adua.
“So, where is the ground for him to say I betrayed him? Those of you who are old enough will remember that in 2003, the PDP took over all the states in the South West, with exemption of Lagos. I stood before Obasanjo and said ‘No, you can’t take Lagos’. And he left it.
“So who is indebted to the other? Is it me or Tinubu?.
“Till today I will not do Muslim-Muslim ticket; it is absolutely wrong and not right. We are multi-ethnic, and multi-religious.”
Speaking further, the former Vice President said: “Our elections are established and governed by law and founded on the Constitution from which leadership and government in Nigeria alone derive their legitimacy.
“The people look up to us as leaders to respect these rules and, where necessary, to defend them. This is what brings us here.
“Today, we are called upon again as a people to uphold and defend the ground rules of elective government in our country. The Constitution prescribes the requirements for those who seek the highest elective office in the land.
“We undertook this journey at great cost and for important reasons. The ground rules for legitimate governance in our country need to be upheld, and the reputation of our country is at stake. That affects everyone, Nigerians everywhere.
“I am a democrat by conviction and a citizen of a country that I love. The issues at stake in this case require us once more to re-dedicate ourselves to both the country and our Constitution.
“Now, we entrust these facts to us all as citizens and as leaders of the institutions charged with interpreting our Constitution.”
Thanking those that have contributed to his legal journey against Tinubu, he applauded the lawyers both in Nigeria and in the US who assisted in bringing clarity and definitive answers to these issues that appear to have defied institutions for nearly a quarter of a century.
Expressing further gratitude, Atiku said: “I also want to extend my gratitude to Nigerian citizens and friends of Nigeria both within and beyond the shores of our country for their patience as we have sought to find the facts and establish the truth.
“I wish to pay tribute to the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, who inspired us on this path of discovery. Now, he can truly rest in peace in the assurance that what he started about 23 years ago has come to fruition. Gani’s vindication today gives credence to the saying that no matter how fast a lie runs, the truth will someday overtake it.
“Former American President Thomas Jefferson once said ‘If I had to choose between government without newspapers, and newspapers without government, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the latter’. From exposing the Watergate scandal and unravelling the dubious certificates of politicians, journalists have maintained eternal vigilance by bridging the gap and stepping in when other arms of government failed.
“It is for these reasons that commendation must be given to David Hundeyin, an independent journalist whose extraordinary work and those of many more young people like him has become a source of inspiration.
”Special thanks must be given to the millions of Nigerian youths and citizen journalists too who continue to put out the truth online even when no one is listening. Indeed, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. They have put the country first in their firm commitment to unravel the truth and hold leaders accountable. This gives me the hope that we have worthy partners in the struggle to reclaim the country we call home.”
Rallying leaders and others to speak up for truth, probity, justice, accountability, Atiku called on Obi, Kwankwaso, all leaders of thought, religious leaders, traditional leaders and leaders of every political party in Nigeria, and, indeed, every single person who loves this country to do the needful.
He enjoined all to join him in the campaign to enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality and uprightness in the country and in government.
Atiku’s lawyer, Kalu Kalu, SAN, also answered questions on the documents obtained from the Chicago State University on Tinubu’s academic records.
When asked what really was the content of the document given to Atiku’s lawyers by the US court, Kalu said: “One, we were told that Bola Ahmed Tinubu forged the certificate he presented to INEC.
“Two that the qualifying certificates from Southwest College to Chicago bears a female indicating that the document does not belong to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Also, the CSU admission has a claim that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended Government College, Lagos and graduated in 1970 when indeed, the school was established in 1974.
“The same document under the deposition says that the A is Bola A. Tinubu is Ahmed but in the NYSC certificate Bola A. Tinubu submitted to INEC, the A is Adekunle.”
Reacting to a question on what would be the relevance of the document obtained at the Supreme Court, Kalu said: “It is very clear that from second authorities, the Supreme Court has held that they can accept a party to adduce fresh evidence, as long as certain conditions are met and from what transpired in the proceedings in US courts, that condition is going to be met.
“So as we speak, our law is very clear that a party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his illegality.”
It is recalled that Caleb Westberg, the school’s Registrar, while speaking under oath and penalty of perjury, said the certificate dated 22 June, 1979, and tendered before INEC on June17, 2022, was not issued by the CSU administration, adding that “ its administrators could not authenticate its source.”
Westberg who is the CSU registrar since November, 2020 during the deposition that lasted for about 5.5 hours, added that “Tinubu did not apply for any replacement, nor was any issued to him.”
It would also be recalled that Tinubu had claimed that a replacement was issued to him by the institution on the 27t June, 1997.
The certificate he is parading was said to have been signed by Elnora Daniel and Niva Lublin who were not even at the school in 1979.
