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Originally posted by Biafra:
Somebody need to torch that mansion, like brother WP said.

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...but I still prefer they be moved North to Chad and Niger. - osetutu

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Weep Not for Atiku
by Aliyu Habeeb (Gombe, Nigeria)

For me, any form of pity for Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in his recent tango with his boss is misplaced. I think Atiku, as the architect of his own woes and as the progenitor of our present problems, got it coming. Rather than sympathise with him, Nigerians who believe that the vice-president is being punished for humiliating President Olusegun Obasanjo in the run up to the 2003 polls should literally pour water on the sand and drink there from in jubilation. Because the man who weaved the whip with which they are being lashed now tastes the rough side of the same whip! We must not have any soft centre for such a person.

Before I make my point, let me clearly say that I am not holding brief for Obasanjo in this fight. I am also not a sadist who enjoys the pains being inflicted on Atiku just for the fun of it. No. To be sure, I don’t admire the president’s face, and that is exactly why I clap as he lampoons his vice. I will always be thrifty with my sympathy with the vice-president because he single-handedly plunged us into the present quagmire of having to contend with a sadistic president who doesn’t want to go despite widespread indignation against him.

My quarrel with Atiku is that even though he knew well enough that Obasanjo had inflicted enough grave wounds on Nigeria and Nigerians by the end of their first term, and despite the fact that he could stop him by the wave of the hand, the vice-president rallied round his political machinery to return the president in 2003. We don’t need to go far in our history books to remember that Atiku was instrumental to Obasanjo’s re-election in 2003. Reports had it that Obasanjo kneeled before and begged Atiku to get his support. We Nigerians on the other hand shouted ourselves hoarse in unison to anybody who could do it to help us get rid of the president. But Atiku clogged his ears against our deafening cries that the president must go so that our suffering would end.

In fact, shortly before the PDP convention in which Atiku strenuously worked to convince his political associates to back Obasanjo, the president was facing an array of charges of gross misconduct by the National Assembly. But for the unwarranted intervention of some misfits, the man would have been impeached. Coming out from the impeachment imbroglio, Obasanjo was the hardest sell you could display in any market. During the convention, he was facing heavy weights like former vice-president, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, who could have run the president down and give us some good governance. Atiku said it himself on the eve of the PDP primaries that he could defeat the president or pair up with Ekwueme to rout him. But notwithstanding the resentment of Nigerians against the prevailing misrule, Atiku chose to go with the president, simply because he thought he could bank on the president’s support in 2007. May be Atiku did some rough calculation and found that he would better off that way because he would be in the presidency for 16 years, that is eight years as Obasanjo’s vice and eight years as president. Now the president has made it clear even to a blind that Atiku would never succeed him. He has also ruined the country further and is devising ways to transmute in to an emperor, in spite of not only Atiku but the nation as a whole!

Had Atiku done the right thing, which was to jettison Obasanjo, Nigerians would have been paying less than N30 for a litre of petrol, because I can’t see any other president, be it Ekwueme or even Atiku, increasing the price of what we are the sixth world’s largest exporter notwithstanding the soaring international prices. That we are paying through our noses and even eyes to fuel our vehicles alone should make us think twice before shedding our tears for Atiku! I need not recap the ills being perpetrated by Obasanjo to make my reader appreciate the level devastation Atiku brought to this country by virtue of his role in returning the president. They are glaring for all of us!

Many of these politicians crying foul as Obasanjo cuts Atiku to size are merely shouting because their man is on the losing side. They are not crying for Nigerians or for democracy. When people like former political adviser to Atiku, Dr. Usman Bugaje talk about democracy, I laugh. This is a man put up for the race into the House of Representatives just for the single purpose of becoming the speaker. He benefited from the PDP’s rigging machine and ‘won’ an election that was far from free or fair. It was not even free from fear! His Jibia/Kaita federal constituency of Katsina state was among those with the highest record of thuggery in the state during thie 2003 elections. Since he lost his speakership race to another man whose election was no less dubious, Bugaje consistently criticises Obasanjo for being an intolerant despot. If the Bugajes are truly for Nigerians why did they allow Atiku to run with Obasanjo in 2003 since by that time they knew quite well that the president was not a democrat?

In my opinion we should not weep for Atiku. Let us leave such task for Bugaje and co. Ordinary Nigerians should all remind the vice-president that he is not only the mason of his travails but also a huge investor in our collective troubles inflicted by this government. The honourable way out for such a man is for him to divest from this project. It is never too late to seek for redemption.

Aliyu writes from Buhari Housing Estate, Gombe, Nigeria, Email: alhabeeby@yahoo.com

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Resign Now

By Chris Ajaero
Monday, September 05, 2005


The lingering crisis between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar, may end up in the abrupt to exit of the vice-president from government

The tenure of Atiku Abubakar as vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria may end abruptly in a matter of weeks, even days. That is because he has been given marching orders by President Olusegun Obasanjo to quit immediately or risk being handed over to security agencies over illegal financial dealings involving himself and Jennifer, his wife.

Their offences are said to include money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing. Newswatch learnt that one of the major reasons for the recent raiding of the residence of Atiku in Maryland, United States by the Federal Bureau of Intelligence was in connection with his alleged shady deal with William Jefferson, US congressman as well the discovery of his multi-million dollars foreign bank account. Sources said that at first, Atiku and 20 other Nigerians who were maintaining foreign shady bank accounts in the United States were asked to close them. This was because the American security agents who initially did not know the origin of the money, later traced it to deals from Nigeria. It was against this background that they asked all those involved to move their money out of the US. It was at this juncture that Jennifer reportedly moved $600 million out of the US to the Union Bank of Switzerland, UBS. In that bank, he has Jennifer, his wife as a co-signatory to the account.

When they successfully moved the money, Jennifer went to Geneva and attempted to move it again, specifically to build the ABTI American University, Yola owned by the Atikus. But the Swiss banks did not allow her to move the money. This was based on their suspicion that the money came from Nigeria through money laundering. Although Jennifer is married to Atiku, she is an American citizen. This was why the Swiss bankers told her that as an American citizen if she had such money, she ought to have declared it to the US Inland Revenue Service. They argued that since she had not declared it in US for tax purposes, it stands to reason that she was dodging payment of taxe to the US government and the penalty for this offence is jail.

Swiftly, the Swiss bankers reported to the US government that such money came from the US. The US security agents immediately swung into action and searched Jennifer residence because she was earning $200 a week. Baffled by what they discovered, the US government officials called Obasanjo on August 1, alleging that his government was very corrupt. They asked him where Atiku got the money which he stashed in a foreign bank account. Obasanjo's response was that it had nothing to do with his government but was strictly an individual's issue.

Newswatch gathered that during the search of Atiku's house in Maryland, USA, by F.B.I officials, August 3, they found documents on payments to American congressmen through Jefferson. The last cheque was $100,000. It was further learnt that F.B.I. subpoenas are focused on a telecommunications deal Jefferson was trying to engineer in Nigeria over the past year.. The US government then called George Obiozor, Nigeria's ambassador to US to alert him about the happenings. Obiozor immediately sent two reports on the incident to the federal government. He was instructed to follow it up through diplomatic channels to establish the facts involved on the issue.

Idris Kuta, a senator from Niger State said that before the search, President Obasanjo was contacted and he gave the green light for the F.B.I to do its work Alarmed by the unwholesome financial transactions which Atiku has entangled himself, Obasanjo was said to have confronted him and advised that if he resigned peacefully, he will ask the American government not to prosecute him and his wife.

By press time, Atiku was still mapping out the strategies to wriggle out of the storm orchestrated by this development. The Adamawa State-born politician whose ambition is to succeed President Olusegun Obasanjo as the nation's No 1 citizen is said to be dumb-founded by the turn of events which would likely jeopardise his political ambition. His case has not been helped by the lingering frosty relationship between him and his boss which has now taken the turn for the worse. Obasanjo is said to be very angry that while he is prosecuting the anti-corruption war, his deputy has been found to be neck-deep in corruption.

Newswatch learnt that the vice-president's reluctance to join the race for the presidency in 2007 before now was because of his disagreement with President Obasanjo arising from some perceived corrupt practices of Atiku. Obasanjo was said to have received security reports that Atiku as chairman of the National Council of Privatisation, NPC during their first term had used his cronies to buy most of the companies that were privatised. The vice-president was removed as chairman of the National Council on Privatisation on March 23, 2004.

Besides, Atiku was alleged to have broken the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on December 1, 2000, when he bought his house in POTOMAC, Maryland, USA for one million, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This was one and half years after becoming the vice-president of Nigeria. The house, a two storey building was allegedly purchased in the name of Jennifer, his wife. Sources said that the house was paid for by Atiku. By so doing, Atiku had is said to have contravened some sections of the Nigerian constitution and the code of conduct for public officers in Nigeria.

Indeed, these are certainly turbulent times for Atiku as these allegations of corruption and the search carried out in his Washington home are mind-boggling. This probably explains Obasanjo's outburst on Sunday, August 28 while reacting to a caller's question on the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, monthly Presidential media chat on a recent statement by Atiku. He denied ever swearing before Atiku that he would not extend his tenure beyond 2007. According to him, Atiku's statement contained a lot of "misrepresentation, misinformation, and mispresentation" He accused the vice-president of disloyalty. This was a vivid portrayal of the simmering differences between the two leaders who appear incompatible.

Last Wednesday, the office of the vice-president reacted to the reports on the search carried out on the Washington home of the Atikus and the interest it had generated. A statement by Mohammed Yakub, deputy press secretary to the vice-president, noted that from press reports, it appears the search was related to an investigation of Jefferson of Louisiana who was among the guests of Atiku in the course of his recent vacation in the US. According to him, Jefferson, an eight-term congress man was until recently, the chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured Peoples, NAACP, and the chairman of the congressional sub-committee on Nigeria and Brazil.

Yakub explained that at the time of Jefferson's visit, the vice-president and his family were unaware that the congressman was under investigation by the F.B.I. He noted that prior to his visit to the US, Nigeria's ambassador to the US had forwarded a letter to the vice-president's office requesting that "he look into the business transaction between the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL, on the one hand, and a Nigeria and an American company, on the other hand, which seemed to have stalled.." The letter was dated June 24, 2005.

Yakub said that on receiving the letter the vice-president instructed that it should be forwarded to the minister of communications for advise. According to him, Jefferson's visit was a follow-up to that letter.

Yakub denied reports on charges of wrong doing against the vice-president. He stated: "I confirm that we have received no information of any wrong doing or impropriety on the part of the vice president and his family arising from the visit and the subsequent search. Vice President Atiku Abubakar assures his supporters, friends, and admirers all over the world that there is no cause for alarm, nor is there any cause to worry."

The feud between Atiku and his boss which has taken a turn for the worse arising from the F.B.I investigation, has elicited reactions from many Nigerian. Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, Lagos radical lawyer told Newswatch that it has confirmed the general belief in the international community that the Nigerian government officials are corrupt. He noted that now that the vice president is being investigated by F.B.I for his link with another company on fraudulent basis, it clearly shows that the crusade against corruption is a smokescreen.

He, however, suspected that the fact that the deal came into the open a few days after the Obasanjo administration increased the pump price of petroleum products shows that it could be a diversionary strategy. "This thing happened not last weekend, this happened early August. Why is it timed for now when he wielded the sledge hammer of fuel price hike on Nigerian people... Now Nigerians will be talking about Atiku and himself," Fawehinmi said.

He also believes that the third term agenda of Obasanjo has a lot to do with the face-off between the two leaders. According to him, Obasanjo who swore to uphold the constitution of Nigeria now wants to break it and because Atiku is opposed to it, he wants to ridicule him. He said that Obasanjo was frantically working towards actualising his third term agenda and warned that he was heading for his own destruction.

For Abiodun Ogunleye, Lagos State chairman of the Alliance For Democracy, AD, Obasanjo's open declaration that he doubted Atiku's loyalty shows that their relationship had broken down. He told Newswatch that the action of the president lends credence to the allegation in some quarters that the president would not want Atiku to succeed him in 2007.

Ogunleye said the allegations of unwholesome business practices against Atiku will definitely affect his political future. He noted that the frosty relationship between Obasanjo and Atiku portends danger for democracy in Nigeria. He said: "It portends danger. You know Atiku has a powerful political machinery on ground, being a heavyweight of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, whose members joined forces with some other people to form the PDP. So, the feud is suggestive of a dangerous signal indeed." Ogunleye called on the two leaders to reconcile because that was how the Action Group, AG, crisis of 1962 started. According to him, that time, some people thought it was a sectional thing, but it later snowballed into such crisis that threatened the Nigerian nation. He said that PDP has become crisis-ridden because it is an assemblage of people who came together for their selfish interests. "The overriding intention for most of its members was to gain control of government at the centre for the largesse that will expectedly follow. This sums up the frequent friction and in-fighting within their ranks. And it also explains why the president is a lone ranger in his own party as far as the talk of combating corruption is concerned," he said.

For any keen follower of the disagreement between Obasanjo and Atiku, the latest assault on the vice-president's political profile is not surprising. The major factor that has made it impossible for the two men to enjoy a robust relationship is that Obasanjo does not trust Atiku. Perhaps, one particular issues that worsened the cracks was the vice-president's alleged support for the impeachment plot in the National Assembly against the President during his first tenure in 2002. The impeachment threat was called off only after Atiku intervened. Obasanjo did not take kindly to that humiliation and he felt something must be done to check Atiku's influence.

Another action of Atiku which Obasanjo found most annoying was his decision to contest against him during the PDP primaries in December, 2002. Atiku who was then in firm control of the political machinery of the PDP made Obasanjo's re-nomination not only a Herculean task but a humiliating experience. Obasanjo had to go out in the night begging delegates for support and he did not succeed until Atiku had allegedly extracted a promise to support him in 2007.

Based on the turn of events, Obasanjo played along so as to secure his second term mandate. After securing his second term mandate, he decided to run rings around the vice-president in order to thwart his plot to succeed him in 2007. Realising that Atiku was too close to Audu Ogbeh, erstwhile PDP national chairman, Obasanjo tactically booted him out of office. In fact, Obasanjo had to trick Atiku to travel out of the country in order to be able to remove Ogbeh. Sources said that Obasanjo had calculated that with Ogbeh in the saddle as PDP chairman, Atiku could have an easy ride to power in 2007. He then brought in Ahmadu Ali, whom he trusts to replace Ogbeh as PDP chairman.

Obasanjo did not stop there. He followed it up with the sacking of some personal aides of Atiku who he believed were too loyal to the vice-president. One of the casualties was Onukuba Adinoyo-Ojo, former special assistant (media) to the vice president who was relieved of his appointment by the President in March, this year. All these measures were aimed at caging Atiku in the game of politics.

There were indications last week that if Atiku refuses to resign peacefully as Obasanjo has asked him to do, the Presidency could initiate the process of impeachment against him at the National Assembly. Sources said that in order to avoid grinding the government machinery to a halt with political bickering, the vice president has to quit.

Last Wednesday, the PDP national leadersship reviewed the face-off between Obasanjo and Atiku and advised vice president to either be loyal or resign. Ojo Madukwe, national secretary of the party who addressed the media on the issue said "the comments credited to the vice president which attracted reactions from Mr President are to say the least very unfortunate" Maduekwe did not mince words in defending the President and condemning Atiku. He said: "We have an interest in this matter beyond defending the President and leader of the party. The President's men are capable of doing so. The vice president has never sought a meeting with the new PDP before making the comments. Public disagreements between a leader and his Deputy whether between the governor and his deputy or the president and his deputy, impact negatively on the smooth running of any system. No system would encourage a vice president to openly take on the president."

But Atiku's camp berated the PDP leadership for taking side with the president instead of being neutral. told Newswatch last Wednesday that Maduekwe's statement was a confirmation that the PDP has been hijacked and taken over by mercenaries. "It is now in the pocket of the president and therefore it is no longer the party we wanted and got established. That is not to say we are going to give up. The battle is on and we are going to fight it out," he said.

He desparaged the PDP leadership

for asking Atiku to quit. He told Newswatch that it would be unconstitutional because the vice-president was duly elected by the people, just like the president. He said: "He wasn't appointed by the president. He was elected. They have a joint ticket. So, who is going to ask him to step aside, is it the president who got there courtesy of the vice-president? He indeed helped the president to secure that position for the first term and for the second term."

Loyalists of the vice-president insist that no amount of intimidation would make the Turaki Adamawa to throw in the towel as the political war between the two most powerful men rages. According to them, the Atiku camp was ready for showdown. They said they would rebuff any possible move to remove the vice-president from office. Newswatch learnt that the Atiku loyalists have been holding crucial meetings to engage the President and the PDP in a dirty fight. They are currently strategising under the auspices of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM. Umar Shittiem, deputy secretary of the group said they were prepared for a fight to finish with anybody who thinks he can frustrate Atiku. "Nobody should think he can use the machinery of government to frustrate Atiku. We shall fight anybody who tries that to a standstill," he said.

However, despite the spirited efforts by Atiku's camp to fight back and save their mentor's job, it appears that Obasanjo is no longer prepared to work with him. Sources in Aso Rock told Newswatch that the president had already started shopping for a credible personality to replace Atiku. It was gathered that at the end of the day, the president would either settle for Jibril Aminu, chairman, senate committee on foreign affairs or Bamanga Tukur, a former presidential aspirant as possible vice-president.

One of them is expected to step into Atiku's shoes when he is eventually eased out of office.





Additional reports by Tobs Agbaegbu, Anza Philips, Solomon Ibharuneafe, Tony Akaeze, and Andrew Airahuobhor

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Raid on U.S. home: FBI clears Atiku


By Chinedu Offor

Correspondent (Washington)



A breather came all the way from the United States to Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) cleared him of any wrong doing over an alleged business deal with an American Congressman.

The allegation had led to a raid on his home in Potomac, Washington last year.

A central figure in the investigation and an assistant to the Congressman, Brett Pfeffer, has entered a guilty plea at a Louisiana State Court of demanding bribes from several unnamed individuals in exchange for his help in promoting businesses in Africa, especially in Nigeria.

Pfeffer disclosed in documents filed in court on Thursday that he demanded gratification of five to seven per cent from any newly formed African company to sell the deal to African Government officials.

He added that his visit with Congressman William Jefferson to Atiku's residence was to give the impression that he was keeping his part of the pact.

Prosecutor Mark Lytle said another congressional representative and Pfeffer travelled to Ghana in July last year to promote the same sort of deal with the Ghanaian Government.

It gave rise to a similar accusation that President John Kufuor was being investigated by the FBI.

Pfeffer's attorney, Paul Knight, declined to comment when contacted on Thursday.

Court records gave no indication of how much money Jefferson stood to receive but officials said the amount would be disclosed later as part of Pfeffer's sentencing.

Prosecutors have been investigating Jefferson in connection with a telecommunications contract involving a Kentucky-based company that specialises in providing high-speed Internet access over Nigeria's copper telephone wires.

Atiku’s Spokesperson, Garuba Shehu, has reacted to the development, telling a web-based news agency, Times of Nigeria, that his boss feels vindicated.

“He had always proclaimed his innocence. The whole episode was an attempt by some to exert political gains by damaging the vice president’s reputation. We have been vindicated”, he stressed.

According to him, Atiku had already denied any wrongdoing when his residence was raided.

“We are currently in litigation with Newswatch magazine over the libelous story it published against Atiku.

“The fact is that Jefferson as the co-Chairman of the Sub-committee on Africa for Nigeria and Brazil has a lot of ties with Nigeria and has visited the country several times. He has met both sitting and former Presidents, privately and publicly; not just Atiku.

“This man has been a recurring figure in the affairs of Nigeria for a long time”

Shehu said there is nothing secret about Atiku’s meeting with Jefferson.

“It was done in the open. His chief of staff was asked to write the minister of communications on the status of the contract with the American company. That was it”.

Daily Independent had reported that Preliminary report on the raid on Atiku’s residence would be released early this year.

Justice Department sources said the report was delayed to "allow the uproar over the raid to settle and to ensure a thorough investigation".

Sources at the Department of Justice had explained that the case generated huge interest because of pressure from the Presidency and Atiku’s loyalists, but for different reasons.

Aso Rock wanted the report to justify further moves against Atiku, including removing him from office if illegal activities were uncovered.

"If the report indicts Atiku, he will no longer have the moral right to remain in office and the Nigerian President will have to remove him from office, just like in South Africa", sources said then.

Supporters of Atiku hoped that the report would exonerate him from all accusations. "The only scenario that can save his job is a clean bill of health from the FBI", the sources added.

The State Department and the Department of Justice have been swamped with petitions from both supporters of Obasanjo and Atiku.

Atiku’s loyalists allege that he was set up by Abuja because of his refusal to support a third term for Obasanjo.

They asked the American authorities to dismiss the allegation against him on the grounds that he was not given any authority to enter into negotiations on behalf of the government.

The sources had confided months ago that the report "has no smoking gun".

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