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For the avoidance of doubt the Senate probe of the PTDF arose from the allegations of abuse of office by Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the person overseeing the parastatal

The Atiku office as a patriotic citizen of Nigeria and an interested party in the senate investigations deemed it fit to alert the senate in particular and Nigerians in general of the attempt by Obasanjo and his cronies at the PTDF to subvert a critical and unbiased attempt to get to the root of the problem by their delay tactics.  It was understood that Baba has confided in his allies that since the Nigerian Senate had refused to endorse the report he sent to it and consequently approve his indictment of the Vice President in the PTDF affair, he swore that he will deal with them by among others make it impossible for them to work as they planned.

We can vividly recall that the special committee's Chairman and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba had gone public in the early days of his committee's work preparatory to starting public hearing in the matter that the PTDF has refused to respond to its request for some vital documents that it considered necessary in the conduct of its assignment. He disclosed that having written almost four letters to the PTDF, the fund refused to even acknowledge them not even talk of providing the documents.

From the chairman's statement one can see that the fund has been adequately briefed by the powers that be to do all they can to frustrate the committee's work. On that verbal instruction, the PTDF managed by one of Baba's right hand men flew out of the country and told his subordinates not to respond in any way to the committee's request.

The Atiku campaign office has exposed a plan by the PTDF to purge a large number of incriminating documents from the PTDF records that could likely expose the looting of the fund by what it called 'traducers' of the Vice President, adding that the forged documents are being produced to replace the genuine ones.

As an after thought of the illegal deals involving massive expenditure at the fund which were done hurriedly without going through due process in the last two years, such matters had now been taken to the FEC for retroactive approvals. The Senate should take note that this is 'administrative perjury' otherwise called fraud, is punishable under the Nigerian laws.

The worry of the Atiku campaign office and in fact of all patriotic Nigerians like me and you is that an unprecedented fraudulent, systematic, accelerated and evil plan to obstruct justice and subvert the spirit and letter of the Senate on the imitative of the highest echelons of government in order to 'sanitise' the records of the fund. Few days after the press release from the Atiku office, the intimidating and witch hunting tool of the OBASANJO, EFCC raided the Abuja branch of the Platinum/ Habib Bank and forced the bankers to surrender original cheques and other documents that have something to do with the controversial MOFAS and MARINE FLOAT campaign accounts being funded by the PTDF. They did not allow the Bank officials to take inventory of what they took away. Is that not an attempt to temper with the investigations of the Senate as brought to focus by the Atiku office? Is it also not against the norms and established practices of the Bank to collect such vital instruments without a court order?

The Atiku group went a step further towards assisting the Senate to do a good job by suggesting to it to make use of forensic experts and former staff of the PTDF to fish out the 'chaff from the grain', i.e. separate the forged documents from the genuine ones.

It is understandable why OBASANJO is desperate about nailing Atiku with the watery indictment so that his aspiration of becoming Nigeria's president in 2007 will not see the light of the day. He has antagonized Atiku severally and feels that if Atiku takes over he will return fire for fire. Fortunately for Baba Atiku is as magnanimous and forgiving as a true Muslim.

But in a laughable response to the Atiku office, the minister of information in a two-page advertorial titled 'PTDF: plot to approve phony contracts false', the federal government said that the Atiku office is just out to divert attention from Atiku's indictment.

What baffles me most about the government's reaction is the belated claim that Atiku 'arrogated to himself' the supervisory role of the PTDF contrary to extant regulations. No sane human being can believe this claim from government. Atiku has been supervising the fund since 1999 and Obasanjo had never talked about it not to even query his memos asking approval for the funds expenditures and activities. He never raised eye brows about Atiku's supervisory role of the fund. Or has he now realized that Atiku has been doing the wrong thing?  Is it an oversight on the part of Baba or that he just decided to look the other way in his usually 'magnanimity' while Atiku was running the fund and Baba was cornering all the proceeds of the PTDF?

This defence is as watery as other attempts to take Atiku to the code of conduct bureau court where he is being charged with more than 10 offences, suspending him from the Party he built and financed and now accusing him of divulging federal executive council's, FEC decisions to his campaign office in contravention of his oath of office as Vice President of the Federal Republic Nigeria.

In their attempt to say that Atiku is not the supervisor of the fund, they stated that since it is a parastatal of the NNPC, it falls under the direct supervision of the ministry of Petroleum Resources which also falls under the administration of President Obasanjo who has been its minister. This subtle after thought defence is in a way to give administrative backing to the retroactive approvals the FEC is giving the deals earlier done by Obasanjo but not approved  then.

It not something new to hear or see Atiku and his political associates being persecuted by the OBASANJO administration in the hands of EFCC, police, their security agencies or his cronies. Only last year a mob was organised by the administration in Lagos and they attacked the convoy of the Vice President on his way to the town from the Airport.  Also, a group of supporters of Atiku who were at his residence at the Villa last month to celebrate with him on his victory at the court where the up turned his suspension from the PDP were tear gassed by the police and dispersed without seeing their political hero and mentor.

Indications are that Atiku is committed to contest and destined to win the presidential elections next year.

MUSA ILALLAH

musahk123@yahoo.com