Barely
24 hours after former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar absolved himself of
complicity in the Halliburton scandal, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai, has said that Atiku is being haunted by the demons of corruption.
El-Rufai
said Atiku was culpable in the Halliburton scandal that consumed American
congressman, William Jefferson, who bagged a jail term in the United States of
America.
In
a statement he personally signed, el-Rufai, who dared Atiku to visit the United
States of America if he was not culpable in the wiring of $40m to the US,
implied that the former vice-president could not visit the US as a result of
the scandal.
The
statement entitled, “Atiku haunted by his corrupt demons,” urged Atiku to come
clean with the findings of the report of the United States’ Senate Permanent
Sub-Committee on Investigations which detailed the wire transfers involving the
$40m from offshore companies.
El-Rufai
alleged that the offshore companies wired funds into accounts controlled by
Atiku and one of his wives.
Accusing
the former vice-president of being obsessed with the ambition of becoming the
President of Nigeria, the governor said the chieftain of the Atiku was fond of
spewing out lies in an attempt to “rejuvenate his image”.
He
said Atiku’s vaunting ambition made him (Atiku) support a particular group
during the leadership struggle within the National Assembly, stressing that the
action was disrespect for the wish of President Muhammadu Buhari.
El-Rufai
said, “This statement is issued in response to the latest falsehoods emerging
from Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. He has a record of spewing outright lies and
innuendos 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.
“Not
even from a man as practised as Alhaji Atiku is in the dark arts of damaging
other people through a campaign of lies from him and his media machine.
Therefore, I am constrained to provide a response to the fake news and
irresponsible revision of recent history by Alhaji Atiku.
“The
report detailing the US Senate findings is online. Alhaji Atiku should tell a
better tale of why he is avoiding the United States of America.
“I
never had anything to do with the incorporation of Transcorp. Those that
established that company 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 me. Having done that, how could I have offered
anyone shares?”
In
an interview Atiku granted to a quarterly magazine published by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, Zero
Tolerance, the former vice-president accused former President
Olusegun Obasanjo of scheming to make himself life president.
Atiku
also said that the pioneer Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had
apologised to him for accusing him of corruption, stressing that Obasanjo and
his aides decided to tag him as a corrupt person because he foiled the life
presidency bid of Obasanjo.
He
said, “Did he give any evidence or prove where I was corrupt? Again, this is
the same el-Rufai whom I was instrumental in bringing into government and
making him Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, and eventually
a minister.
“So,
where is the evidence of corruption? It’s just not fair for you to say somebody
is corrupt without substantiation. This is the same el-Rufai who testified on
TV that he worked with me as DG of BPE for four years and there was never a
time I asked him or instructed him to do anything unethical in those years.
“So,
how am I a corrupt person? This is the same el-Rufai and others who incorporated
Transcorp during my time as Vice-President and offered me shares and I
declined. I wrote them officially to say it was unethical of me to accept those
offers. So, where is the corruption toga coming from?”
When
contacted, the Director, Atiku Media Office, Paul Ibe, said he had seen Nasir
el-Rufai’s statement and that the office was preparing a response.
“We
are preparing a response,” he said.
Source:The Punch
Tags
Politics