Jefferson Confession: The Chickens are Coming Home to Roost By Bright Adeola Coker At the heat of Obasanjo’s onslaught against Atiku Abubakar, the latter made a touching statement that made me to develop interest in the whole saga. ‘I am the most investigated vice president in the world’ Atiku was quoted as saying. Both at home and abroad, Atiku was ransacked head to toe and inside out. EFCC deployed the most sophisticated weapons all in the name of investigating Atiku. His bank records both at home and abroad were periscoped to find Atiku’s wrongdoings in order to nail him. The federal government cum EFCC used their international connections in their attempts to get at Atiku. After all the attempts to nail Atiku, what was found against the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar after his eight years of service, is that at home he approved the deposit of PTDF funds without approval from the federal executive council. He was not accused of embezzling the money. The money was not declared missing. It is still in the coffers of the bank with the accrued interest. Atiku’s misgiving outside the shores of this country is that one Jefferson in far away America bribed Atiku with the sum of $100,000. The accusation was later to say that Atiku agreed to take the bribe money when the money was found in Jefferson’s residence after a raid by FBI. Again, Atiku’s sin is not that he received the said bribe.
I found it mandatory
to highlight the above issues to put it in proper perspective. Just to
go back into the issue a little further, Atiku’s private residence in
United States was raided by the FBI in search of the $100,000.
Ordinarily, such a thing would not happen to a sitting vice president
without the knowledge of the president. As at that time, Obasanjo denied
having a fore knowledge of the raid. But those who are familiar with
international politics knew that Obasanjo was economical with the truth.
In international
politics, certain things do happen that may be difficult to explain.
Therefore, we should not be surprised if we are told today that a
company belonging to the vice president of America was in secret arms
deal with Iraq during the war to oust Saddam Hussein. Certain things do
happen. Suffice it to say that we should not be surprised that FBI was
involved in the whole saga.
A worrisome aspect of
this matter is the one involving FBI raid on the residence of Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar. It is on record that Atiku’s house was searched. Nothing
incriminating was found. This aspect was completely blacked out in the
report of FBI. This singular act has made watchers to be suspicious of
FBI. Why would an important aspect of the report involving a sitting
vice president be left out of the major report? Certainly not a
typographic error, you will agree with me.
The recent confession
by Williams Jefferson that the money found in his house was given to him
by FBI to implicate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has gone a long way to
vindicate Atiku. Jefferson threatened to expose the whole issue in no
distant future. One would only hope that he lives long enough to carry
out his threat. The American government should make sure that Jeff does
not drop dead, at least for now.
At the end of the
day, this may be another case of the more you see the less you
understand. What is very clear as at now is that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
was a victim of several circumstances.
Bright
Adeola Coker
Lagos
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