Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president, has refuted media allegations that said he received campaign cash for the 2023 election from Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State.
Atiku’s media team claims that the former vice president has never met the governor of Lagos and is unfamiliar with
Sanwo-Olu.
Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023, described the reports that
he received money from Sanwo-Olu, who is a key member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a “is a blatant
lie from the pit of hell.”
“We at Atiku Media Office have taken note of reports in a section of the media that the Governor of Lagos State,
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, through Ms Aisha Achimugu, made available to His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, Vice President of
Nigeria, 1999-2007 money purportedly belonging to Lagos State. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) is also credited with investigating the matter.
“Let it be known that this is a blatant lie from the pit of hell; a contrived political hogwash, and a futile campaign of
calumny aimed at advancing the political interests of President Bola A. Tinubu,” a statement by Atiku media team said.
It further added, “This piece of kindergarten propaganda is beneath the camp of Tinubu. How is it possible for an
Atiku that does not know and had no connection with Sanwo-Olu to be having a transaction with him involving the
exchange of money – let alone during the Presidential election of 2023 in which his boss was a contestant? To what
end would that be?
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“We wish to, therefore, state emphatically and for the record that it is a political hatchet job aimed at providing a
much-needed justification to jettison Governor Sanwo-Olu, who appears to have fallen out of favour with the
‘Bourdillon Cult.”
“Indeed, their strategy is twofold: get rid of Sanwo-Olu and discredit the coalition being put together by the opposition
political leaders, of which Atiku Abubakar is a key stakeholder.
“To even underscore how poor the propaganda is, an unnamed Sanwo-Olu aide is quoted in the news story trashing
his principal and adding fuel to the fire. Pray, who does that“? Since the EFCC has been dragged into the arena of
politics and propaganda, we challenge the anti-corruption agency to make public the outcome of its alleged investigation.
“It is not just the President that is entitled to that information but the generality of the Nigerian public, including
former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s Presidential flag bearer in the 2023 election, Peter Obi.
“This voyage of misadventure and campaign of calumny against the person and reputation of Atiku Abubakar must
be halted immediately and with alacrity, too.”
