Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the President Bola Tinubu administration to investigate and prosecute him if it has evidence linking him to any wrongdoing in the controversial $16 billion power sector expenditure.
Atiku said there was no reason for the allegations to continue resurfacing decades after leaving office if successive governments had genuine evidence.
He made the remarks in a statement issued through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
The former Vice President accused the administration and its supporters of reviving old allegations as a distraction from growing demands for accountability over the funds saved from the removal of petrol subsidy.
Atiku noted that the National Assembly had previously investigated the power projects, but he was never invited to respond to any allegation of wrongdoing.
“I chaired the National Council on Privatisation as Vice President, but I did not oversee the implementation of the power projects.
The responsible minister did,” Atiku said, adding that the same situation applied to the Aluminium Smelter matter.
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) stated that he had repeatedly asked to be investigated if there were credible allegations against him, emphasizing that he remains ready to face investigation and prosecution if the government can produce evidence.
“It is still not too late. Investigate me. Invite me. Produce the evidence. Prosecute me if you have a case. But propaganda cannot substitute for evidence,” he said.
The former Vice President also accused the government of using the renewed allegations to divert attention from the economic hardship Nigerians have faced following the removal of petrol subsidy. He pointed out that citizens were told ending the subsidy would free up funds for development, but are instead facing higher costs of living. GeographicReference
He further questioned how the increased government revenue from the subsidy removal was being managed.
“So, our question remains brutally simple: where is the people’s money?” Atiku asked, questioning the continued use of fiscal incentives, waivers, tax credits, and concessions for powerful economic interests.
Atiku accused the administration of applying a double standard by removing relief for poor Nigerians while defending interventions for powerful economic interests as incentives.
Dismissing social media attacks against him, he stated that such efforts would not stop him from demanding accountability or advocating policies aimed at improving citizens’ purchasing power.
“The people who removed subsidy from the poor cannot frighten us into silence by resurrecting allegations that governments with all the investigative machinery of the state have had nearly two decades to establish,” he said.
Atiku urged the government to either present evidence against him and prosecute him or stop what he described as attempts to manufacture distractions.
“You removed the subsidy. You collected the savings. Where is the money?” he queried.