Atiku: Produce conviction or stop parading allegations as verdict — ADC tells Morka

By Luminous Jannamike

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, Presidential Campaign Council has challenged the All Progressives Congress, APC, to produce any court judgment convicting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the allegations being levelled against him by the party, accusing its spokesman, Felix Morka, of turning allegations into verdicts.

The Council said Nigerians were less interested in political insults than in answers to the pressures they face daily, from the cost of food and fuel to transport and electricity.

In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Phrank Shaibu, the Council said Morka could raise questions about Atiku’s record but could not present allegations as established convictions.

“Morka has become an untutored spin doctor for a party caught in the conundrum of a sinking regime,” Shaibu said.

He challenged the APC spokesman to identify the court and produce the judgment if he claimed Atiku had been convicted of corruption.

“Morka may raise each matter. He may not strip away the report’s distinctions and present the resulting fiction as a judgment against Atiku,” Shaibu said.

The Council then turned the APC’s attack on Atiku’s suitability to manage public funds against President Bola Tinubu, citing the United States forfeiture proceedings involving $460,000 from an account in Tinubu’s name.

Shaibu said the proceedings and associated financial records raised questions about transactions involving Tinubu and individuals named in the case.

“A bank introduction. A transfer. A cheque. A company. Tinubu should explain those transactions and why the same names kept appearing around his finances,” he said.

The Council also cited the US litigation over access to FBI and other investigative records concerning Tinubu, arguing that Nigerians should be allowed to see the relevant documents, subject to lawful protections.

“Morka’s colleagues will rush to tell Nigerians that a search result is not a conviction. Nobody has said it is,” Shaibu said.

He said the distinction did not erase the questions surrounding the records.

“Yes, the case before the court concerns access to records. The records concern an investigation. Both facts can be true at once,” Shaibu said.

The Council also recalled Tinubu’s 2011 Code of Conduct Tribunal case over alleged foreign bank accounts, noting that the charges were struck out after the tribunal found that the Code of Conduct Bureau had not followed the required procedure.

It said the APC should apply the same respect for the record when discussing Atiku.

On Tinubu’s educational records, the Council raised what it described as discrepancies involving his electoral records, Government College and Chicago State University, as well as questions surrounding the diploma submitted to INEC.

“Tinubu has been a senator, a governor and now president. Nigerians should not have to piece together his public record from electoral forms, legislative inquiries and documents obtained through litigation abroad,” Shaibu said.

The ADC council also rejected Morka’s interpretation of the Mambilla arbitration, saying the tribunal questioned the explanation for a $500,000 payment to Jennifer Douglas but did not find that Atiku received a bribe or used his office to secure the disputed contract.

“Adesanya’s explanation about the said payment may have called for further probe by the tribunal, but it does not give Morka permission to write a corruption verdict the tribunal never delivered,” Shaibu said.

The Council made a similar argument about a 2010 US Senate report on transactions involving Atiku and Douglas, saying the report did not establish Atiku’s criminal guilt or find evidence that he received a bribe from former US congressman William Jefferson.

It also disputed Morka’s claim that Tinubu inherited about $3 billion in foreign reserves and raised them to more than $54 billion, citing Central Bank of Nigeria figures showing reserves at $34.39 billion in May 2023.

“Morka simply deleted more than $31 billion from what Tinubu inherited, then invited Nigerians to applaud the ‘miracle’ that followed,” Shaibu said.

The Council said Atiku’s proposed fuel subsidy should instead be judged on its cost and design, rather than being portrayed as an attempt to raid the national treasury.

It also cited Atiku’s role as vice president in the Obasanjo administration, including his chairmanship of the National Council on Privatisation and involvement in the introduction of Universal Basic Education.

“Tinubu has governed for more than three years. Nigerians can assess his leadership every time they buy food, pay for transport or settle an electricity bill,” Shaibu said.

The Council urged Tinubu and the APC to answer questions about their claims with documentary evidence and called for the release of relevant FBI records.

“Let the relevant FBI records be released, with lawful protections for confidential sources and other individuals. Let Tinubu answer the questions their contents raise,” Shaibu said.

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