Atiku Abubakar Denies Corruption Allegations, Calls Presidency’s China Reference a Self-Inflicted Blow
Former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed the corruption allegations levelled against him by the Presidency, describing the government’s recent reference to China’s legal system as a “monumental own goal.”
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that invoking China’s strict anti‑corruption and drug‑trafficking laws only highlighted the weaknesses in the Presidency’s defence of President Bola Tinubu.
Shaibu warned that the Presidency made a strategic error by citing China, noting that the country imposes the death penalty for the most serious narcotics offences. By choosing China as a benchmark, the spokesman unintentionally invited Nigerians to scrutinise the very standard he hoped would embarrass Atiku.
Atiku reiterated that he has never been indicted or convicted of corruption, narcotics offences, or any other criminal offence in Nigeria or abroad. He stressed that this fact is an incontrovertible matter of public record.
The former Vice‑President’s camp also questioned how Chinese authorities would have treated the $460,000 forfeited to the United States Government in a civil forfeiture case linked to alleged narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
Shaibu added that China’s uncompromising stance on drug‑related crimes and public accountability means that forfeiture of suspicious funds is usually the start, not the end, of an investigation.
Atiku further rejected the Presidency’s reliance on a recent diplomatic reply from the United States Government as proof of Tinubu’s exoneration, stating that routine correspondence between sovereign governments cannot be equated with a judicial acquittal.
He urged the Tinubu administration to shift focus from political exchanges with opposition figures to tackling the economic hardship, rising hunger, insecurity, and institutional decline affecting Nigerians.
“The Tinubu administration would do better to devote its dwindling political capital to confronting the economic hardship, rising hunger, insecurity and institutional decline afflicting Nigerians instead of manufacturing diversions that collapse at the slightest contact with the facts,” Atiku said.
About the Author
