Atiku Slams Obasanjo Over Exploitation Of Former Speaker Na’Abba’s Death

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of exploiting the memory of the late former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, for political purposes.

Atiku said Obasanjo’s claim that he bribed the late Na’Abba to orchestrate moves to impeach him as president while they were in office amounted to lies and disrespect to the dead.

In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President described Obasanjo’s claims as “a desperate attempt to rewrite history” and influence the political landscape ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Obasanjo, while responding to comments made by a former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba, on the political developments that preceded the 2003 general election, alleged that Atiku gave N5m to Na’Abba to impeach him during his first time.

However, Atiku, in the statement titled, “The grave is not a witness box,” argued that it was fundamentally unfair to make allegations involving Na’Abba after his death, when he could no longer respond or defend his reputation.

He said, “As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt Hon Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him.

“If this allegation were true, why did he never make it while Rt Hon Na’Abba was alive? Why wait until the only man who could confirm or refute the claim has departed this world?”

“By invoking a deceased man as the principal witness to such a grave allegation, former President Obasanjo has denied Nigerians the opportunity of hearing the other side of the story.

“The late Rt Hon Ghali Na’Abba cannot now defend his own integrity or respond to the allegation that he accepted a bribe. It is unfair to his memory and contrary to our cultural values to conscript the dead into contemporary political battles when they no longer have a voice.”

The former vice president also questioned why no legal action was taken if the allegations were backed by evidence.

Atiku further alleged that the timing of Obasanjo’s remarks was politically motivated, coming as political parties and aspirants begin positioning ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Coming at a time when the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election is taking shape, the obvious objective is to besmirch my person and reputation and confer an undeserved political advantage on the former President’s kinsman. Nigerians, however, know better. They are too discerning to be distracted by stale allegations resurrected for political convenience.”

He also revisited the long-standing political rift between himself and Obasanjo, linking it to his opposition to the controversial third-term agenda during the latter’s administration.

“My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda. As a democrat, I chose the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Rather than surrender democratic principles on the altar of personal ambition, I defended the Constitution and successfully asserted my rights through the courts in a series of landmark legal victories against a sitting President.