David Lawani, Abuja
A major war of words yesterday cross-fired between the camps of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and his opposition party counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, over a call on the Federal Government for the latter’s arrest.

The high-wire call for Atiku to be picked up was made by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, who gave a 72-hour ultimatum to anti-graft bodies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICP) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over alleged ‘criminal breaches’.

Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the APC standard bearer, Tinubu’s lead campaign spokesman, gave the ultimatum in a letter dated Monday, January 16, and addressed to the chairmen of EFCC, ICPC, and CCB, a copy of which was sighted by journalists in Abuja.

He said Atiku should be arrested and prosecuted for offences against the CCB for breaching the code of conduct for public officers, as well as other cases bordering on money laundering, criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, and conspiracy.

According to Keyamo, Atiku’s arrest had become nigh following by whistle-blowing by one Michael Achimugu, who in a trending video in the past weeks, had provided oral evidence as to how the Wazirin Adamawa, as Nigeria’s vice-president between 1999 and 2007, ‘colluded’ with his then boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, to fleece the country and steal public funds using what he termed “Special Purpose Vehicles” (SPVs).

“Those SPVs were companies Atiku admittedly registered upon assumption of office as vice-president (with the approval of President Olusegun Obasanjo), using ‘trusted allies’, such as shareholders and directors.

Achimugu had posted, “The purpose was to divert government contracts to these companies as ‘consultants’, and then pay monies into these companies and use those monies to fund the PDP and their private businesses and family activities.”

He added, “We can all vividly recall that during that tenure, both President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar built the Bells University and (the) American University respectively. Now, we know where the funds came from.

Keyamo stated, “We hereby make available Certified True Copies of the affidavit sworn to and released to the public by the whistle-blower, Mr. Michael Achimugu, giving graphic details of all that transpired, including attached documents.

“Let us also play to you the voice recording he did of Atiku Abubakar. Note that he provided the time of the call, the phone number used, and the emails immediately preceding the call,” the letter read.

The APC campaign spokesperson said from the evidence available, Atiku should be prosecuted for the violation of Sections 5, 10, 13, and 17 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act; Section 18 (2) of The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition Act), 2022, Section 311 of the Penal Code Law, and Section 96 (1) of The Penal Code Act in Nigeria.

In response, the APC presidential campaign council, at a press conference in Abuja, jointly addressed by the spokespersons of the council, asked Atiku to immediately tender an unreserved apology to the Nigerians and step down from the presidential race forthwith and hand himself over to the law enforcement agencies in the light of the revelations.

The council members who made the call include Dele Alake, Keyamo, Bayo Onanuga, Femi Fani-Kayode, and Idris Mohammed.

According to them, though Atiku does not enjoy any immunity, he should be prosecuted with the contemplation that he is a presidential candidate.

“We understand that the law enforcement agencies may be reluctant to act simply because of the perception of persecution of a presidential candidate that this may evoke.

“However, facts are sacred. The facts so far presented to the world indicate that Atiku Abubakar has a case to answer. In other climes when such serious allegations arose in the middle of campaigns, the law-enforcement agencies acted decisively.

“You may recall that, in 2016, in the middle of campaigns for the exalted office of the presidency of the United States, the FBI opened an investigation into allegations of misuse of private emails against Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. The case was referred to the Justice Department for likely prosecution in a few weeks to actual voting.”

They added, “Though she was later cleared, it bears restating that a sane and dispassionate system never allowed such side talks to dissuade or distract them from initiating a process of investigation. It is the minimum expected in a constitutional democracy. That is what we call on the authorities to do in the case of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”

According to them, the issue of the Marine Float Account is not new to Nigerians and in the voice note, released by Achimugu, Atiku can be heard boasting that the issue of that account was thoroughly investigated by EFCC, yet then he was smart enough to escape.

“However, we note that in 2006, at the height of his public quarrel with Obasanjo over the sharing of money, the same PDP officially asked Atiku Abubakar to refund N500 million taken from that account.

“In this circumstance, since the nation now knows that the Marine Float Account and other similar accounts were ‘SPV’ accounts, it follows that all payments made into that account were monies stolen from the public coffers. Therefore, we call on all security agencies to recover all monies withdrawn from that account by anyone for that matter,” the spokespersons said.

They also said, between 1999 and 2007, Obasanjo and Atiku ran a ‘criminal enterprise’ and an ‘empire of fraud’ in Abuja at the same time Bola Tinubu was toiling very hard, dutifully and meticulously laying the foundation to rebuild Lagos State.

“Following these revelations, it becomes clear that Atiku Abubakar has NOTHING TO CAMPAIGN ON AGAIN AS THE PERIOD OF 1999 – 2007 that he always relies on can now be described by Nigerians as the “SPV years” when they ran Nigeria aground.

The spokespersons added that “whilst President Obasanjo and Atiku deprived the good people of Lagos State of their local government monthly allocations, even after the Supreme Court ordered the release of the funds, they were busy stealing the nation’s resources by stealth in Abuja.

“That the real, dark reason for the seemingly irreconcilable quarrel between President Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar is disagreement over monies they both stole in the ‘SPV’ accounts at that time,” the team added, calling for the protection of the whistleblower, Achimugu.

2023 election will be a fight to finish – Wike

*Tinubu, not Atiku should withdraw from race, say Ologunagba, Melaye

In an earlier response to such claims, the Atiku camp’s reaction to the Keyamo arrest calls came fast and hard.

A statement by the PDP spokesman, Dele Ologunagba, described Tinubu as a ‘convict’ and had once insisted that Atiku should not withdraw from the presidential race.

“The People Democratic Party (PDP) dismisses as irresponsible the attempt by the All-Progressives Congress (APC) and its incoherent presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to divert public attention from the issues affecting Nigerians.

“Tinubu’s atrocious record and the vexatious misrule of the APC by demanding that the PDP presidential candidate, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, should withdraw from the presidential race on account of simulated allegations by the APC.

“It is indeed ironic that an embattled Tinubu, who is beleaguered by uncountable cases of fraudulent activities, including perjury, forgery, treasury looting, corruption, and narcotic-related conviction, can attempt to impugn on the unimpeachable integrity of the PDP presidential candidate.

“For clarity and for the interest of Nigerians, it is on record that Atiku Abubakar is one of the most investigated public officials in this country. It is also on record that in all the investigations undertaken over him and his affairs, Atiku Abubakar was never found culpable in any of the allegations.

“In contrast, the APC presidential candidate has a litany of confirmed legal impediments on very grave issues, including those that border on international crime, namely; trafficking in narcotics and taking proceeds of narcotics.

“In the recent case revealed in the United States of America, it is on record that the APC presidential candidate forfeited the sum of $460,000 which was confirmed and found to proceed of trafficking in narcotics; an international crime for which Nigeria, being a signatory to International Convention on Trafficking in Narcotics, is obliged to enforce.

“The effect of the conviction and forfeiture of the sum of $460,000 by Asiwaju Tinubu confirms that he is ineligible and not qualified to contest for the Office of the President of Nigeria as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“For clarity, Section 137 (1) (d) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provides that: (1) “A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if… (d) He is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria, or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called), or for any other offence, imposed on him by ANY COURT or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal.”

The statement added that having been convicted, sentenced, and fined for narcotic trafficking in a criminal suit filed according to the United States Criminal Code, Tinubu cannot by Section 137 (1)(d) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), seek office as the president of Nigeria.

“The APC presidential candidate has not come out to deny the conviction and forfeiture or show evidence of any attempt by him to challenge or appeal the judgment, apparently believing that it will slide with time. Asiwaju Tinubu ought to know that time does not run against the state in a criminal matter!

“He should, therefore, withdraw from the presidential race, having been found ineligible and not qualified to run or to contest for the Office of the President of Nigeria under the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.”

Ologunagba’s claim was beefed up yesterday by another member of the Atiku campaign team, Dino Melaye, an ex-senator.

Melaye advised the APC and others to look for “other credible means of campaigning or trying to fight the PDP than to orchestrate lies from the pit of hell.”

According to him, “Even from what Festus Keyamo just said, he said they have evidence of letters of appointment from Atiku Abubakar. It is fallacious and malicious, and that is a lie from the pit of hell. The letters from the so-called man paraded are letters from two support groups.

“One from Ticom, and one from the Atiku support group, where Atiku has no control of those support groups. And we are saying that if you are an aide, as they claimed, of Atiku Abubakar, you will have a letter of appointment from Atiku Abubakar.

“I am the spokesperson of Atiku Abubakar. I got a letter from Atiku Abubakar appointing me as the spokesperson. I am the Director of Public Affairs of the Presidential Campaign Council. I have a letter signed by the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council.

“So, where is the letter appointing him? And it is so shameless that Festus and the other jesters will come on TV and begin to say there was an incident of a letter appointing him as an aide. But let us not even go into that. It is very funny that tissues of lies were put together.”