–Atiku hits back at former boss
By Our Reporters
President Bola Tinubu has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of leaving behind a legacy of unpaid pension liabilities from the privatisation of government enterprises, claiming that his administration is now clearing the mess Atiku created.
This comes as former President Olusegun Obasanjo also renewed his attack on his former deputy, levelling fresh bribery allegations.
Spear News Nigeria reports that the current hostilities were triggered by Atiku himself when his Washington-based lobbying firm began circulating decades-old US forfeiture records against Tinubu to officials in the Trump administration and members of Congress.
The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., which Atiku retained under a 12-month contract reportedly worth $1.2 million, disclosed it had begun distributing more than 60 pages of Department of Justice records concerning Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture case.
The documents centre on a case where the US government alleged funds deposited into accounts linked to Tinubu were proceeds of narcotics trafficking, though the matter was resolved through a civil settlement in 1993 without any criminal conviction.
The lobbying firm stated it was providing the records because many US officials were previously unaware of the historical case, adding: “We fully intend to ensure that the complete collection of DOJ court filings, the supporting affidavit, and the related federal court decisions are brought to President Trump’s attention as soon as possible.”
Consequently, the Presidency reacted sharply, with Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga accusing Atiku of undermining Nigeria’s sovereignty by petitioning foreign officials over a matter that had been litigated and settled decades ago.
“It is baffling and disappointing that someone who has sought the presidency for over three decades now resorts to reporting the President of Nigeria to US President Donald Trump and members of the US Congress. Reporting the President of Nigeria to another country’s leader is not only inappropriate but also undermines the nation’s dignity and independence.”
The Presidency also referenced Atiku’s own legal history, including a 2010 US Senate investigative report examining financial transactions involving Atiku and his former wife.
“Furthermore, if Atiku Abubakar can spend $1.2m on American lobbyists to report President Tinubu, perhaps he should also clarify his own legal standing in the United States.”
Speaking during a meeting with the Nigerian Diaspora Medical Association and Northeast stakeholders who endorsed Vice President Kashim Shettima for renomination, Tinubu declared that Atiku privatised public entities but “forgot to pay the pension” of affected workers.
The President said: “Nigerians are not asking for too much, simple stability and social welfare, if I can go political, somebody among my prospective opponents privatised government investment in public entities but forgot to pay the pension. I’m clearing the pensioners now, so clearing the mess they created.”
He also reflected on his training with Deloitte & Touche in the United States, positioning himself as uniquely qualified to handle Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The allegation references the privatisation exercise conducted during the Obasanjo administration between 1999 and 2007, during which Atiku chaired the National Council on Privatisation. Over 100 government enterprises were sold, including Nigeria Airways and NITEL, leaving thousands of workers with unpaid pension obligations that became liabilities for subsequent administrations.
Atiku’s campaign dismissed Tinubu’s remarks as “unnecessary ghosting and futile political shadow chasing by an inept APC-led administration.” He argued that the Obasanjo/Atiku administration inherited a broken Defined Benefits Scheme with liabilities exceeding N2 trillion, about 25 percent of Nigeria’s GDP at the time. By 2007, he said, the administration had enacted the Pension Reform Act of 2004 and established the National Pension Commission, creating a fully funded Contributory Pension Scheme that stopped the accumulation of new unbacked state debts.
“Government is a continuum. The present helmsmen cannot continue to waste valuable national time and resources on ghosting and blaming past administrations. A successor must inherit assets and liabilities,” Atiku said. He added that Tinubu should “stop quarrelling with his tools like a bad farmer.”
Obasanjo, meanwhile, entered the fray with fresh allegations against Atiku. The former President claimed his former deputy gave the late Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba N5 million to initiate impeachment proceedings against him during his first term. Obasanjo said the incident was “noted, recorded and reported to me by my Chief of Staff, a professional intelligence officer.”
Atiku responded sharply, stating it was “unfair to a dead man” as Na’Abba could not defend himself from beyond the grave. He questioned why Obasanjo never raised the allegation while the Speaker was alive and why no legal action was taken at the time if evidence existed.
Atiku linked Obasanjo’s hostility to his opposition to the third-term agenda, insisting: “My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda.” He further urged Obasanjo to declare his political preference openly rather than rely on allegations that could no longer be independently verified.
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