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Atiku Abubakar: The Most Powerful Vice-President Returns By Abdulkareem Yakubu
The immediate past Vice-President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is arguably the most powerful Vice-President the world has so far produced. To say that Atiku Abubakar was exceptionally powerful during his tenure as the Vice-President of the Country is to say the least in view of the fact that he survived the political game plans hatched by his erstwhile boss and his cronies to make him irrelevant in the then political landscape of Nigeria.
Since the handover of power by the Obasanjo administration to President Umaru Yar’Adua in May 2007, the former Vice-President has not been in the news except in connection to the legal battles he took to challenge the 2007 elections. But if the recent unfolding (behind the scene) events in the country as reported by the media is anything to go by, then, the former Vice-President and a Power Broker in Nigeria is set to stage a come back.
The bottom line as being reported by most media outfits in the country is that, the most powerful VP in history, Atiku Abubakar, may be due back not only as a PDP member but as Chairman Board of Trustees of the Party.
The events or circumstances that led to the exit of the former VP from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the Action Congress (AC) is now history as they could not substantiate the corruption charges against the former Vice-President. The noise generated by former President Olusegun and his cronies regarding the alleged pool of corruption the former VP swam in is still unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
It is however curious that more than one year after vacating office as the Vice-President of this country, Atiku is yet to be charged with any act of corruption. It is on record that not even his name has been mentioned in all the public hearings at the National Assembly regarding some activities of the past administration.
According to one Mohammed Ali in his write-up titled, ‘As Atiku Abubakar laughs last’, the former VP was not even accused of using his position to attract plots of land at choice location. He added that the name of Atiku Abubakar did not come for mentioning in the Independent Power Project, the Committee which he chaired.
It is ironical that it is those same set of people that were pointing accusing fingers at the former VP that are constantly been linked to one corrupt act or the other. Time has really vindicated Atiku Abubakar of the accusations.
What has become apparent with the passage of time was the bitter truth of using the EFCC by the Obasanjo administration to go after Atiku and his allies to some extent curtail his powers. Thus, at a point, state Assemblymen were threatened to impeach some governors that were loyal to Atiku or risk arrest by EFCC.
The strategy adopted by Obasanjo at that point in time achieved relative success as the fear of EFCC by Legislators and governors scared many loyalists from Atiku, thereby making him vulnerable. Some of the impeachments that took place at that material time were in Ekiti, Plateau and Anambra states.
Another strategy adapted to silence or curtail the powers of Atiku and his loyalists was the use of ‘Administrative or Judicial Panel’ to nail them down without recourse to due process. It was in this light that the doctored script of the Bayo Ojo led Administrative Panel’s report was said to have indicted Atiku for mismanaging the PTDF Fund, all in an effort to prevent the former VP from running for the number one seat in the country.
Reflecting on the PTDF scam, a monthly news magazine (NewsNow) had in its October 2008 edition wrote that, “Ribadu would have left his name carved in gold if he had the guts to beam his eagle-eye on both Obasanjo and Atiku; instead he chose to act a script doctored to incriminate Atiku, but for the scrupulous judiciary, who earned the well deserved public admiration as a result of equitable dispensation of the case”.
It is noteworthy that as regards to the issue of corruption and contract scam, none of the Atiku family members or friends have been mentioned or linked to any of such controversy or scam. Atiku’s name was cleared from the mess of the AP saga by El-Rufai, where it was alleged that one Peter Okocha was fronting for him.
What is even more curious is that the new EFCC boss was quoted to have said that she could not lay her hands on any file on Atiku Abubakar. It can now be concluded that all the noise about Atiku and corruption was the creation of Obasanjo and his cronies to achieve a predetermined end. The former VP was reported to have said this much when the battle to remove him was on, but unfortunately he was not believed.
One thing most people don’t know about Atiku Abubakar is that he is a business man who derives joy in creating job opportunities for the people of the country by investing at home. A visit to Adamawa state in Nigeria will attest to the fact that he has created jobs for hundreds of Nigerians irrespective of where you come from and his Political opponents in the state are now hiding in shame as to their wrong perception or what they were made to believed of the Man called Atiku Abubakar, the most powerful Vice-President ever produced in the world.
Abdulkareem Yakubu, a former Correspondent of New Nigerian Newspapers in Borno and Yobe states is now a Senior Reporter with Radio Gotel, Yola, Adamawa state. He can be reached through the e-mail:abdulkareemykb@yahoo.co.uk
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