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.
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.
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