- Atiku, while addressing some of his supporters in the Hausa language, vowed to go after anybody engaging in corruption if he is elected president.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has voiced his repulsion at the endemic corruption in the country.
This is even as he hinted at running for presidency in 2027. Atiku is a key figure of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, coalition.
Atiku, while addressing some of his supporters in Hausa language, vowed to go after anybody engaging in corruption if he is elected president.
In a video on X, Atiku could be heard saying: “I swear to God, if elected, whoever steals or engages in any corruption-related activities, we will declare war against them and they must be punished”
Atiku’s promise to crack down on corruption may be seen as empty rhetoric with no real conviction as he as been indicted in a slew of corruption and financial impropriety scandals in the past.
A few years ago, he admitted to that he and others deployed onshore shell businesses to corner billions in federal contracts.
He was at the centre of a federal broadband contract scandal that rocked former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government.
The charges later saw the imprisonment of William Jefferson, at the time a serving member of the United States. American authorities said they found cash bribes believed to have come from a Nigerian racket in Mr Jefferson’s refrigerator while probing the case, but Atiku was never specifically charged.
Meanwhile, Atiku has vied for the presidency six times: in 1993, he contested on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform; and in 2007, he contested on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform, losing to Umar Ya’adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He challenged former President Goodluck Jonathan in the PDP’s primaries in 2011 and lost. After joining the APC in 2014 ahead of the 2015 election, Mr Abubakar lost the presidential primaries to Muhammadu Buhari.
The politician returned to the PDP in 2017 and lost the presidential election to Mr Buhari of the APC in 2019. He contested alongside Mr Tinubu in 2023 and also lost.
Atiku was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, but he lost to the All Progressives Congress candidate, President Bola Tinubu.
He is one of the leading figures in the coalition-backed ADC, where he moved to owing to the perennial crisis in the PDP, and there are speculations that he is plotting to have the presidential ticket of the ADC for the 2027 presidential election.
Though Atiku is yet to officially announce his defection from PDP to ADC, he has been a key figure in the opposition coalition.
A few days ago, the coalition announced its Interim National Chairman, David Mark, and Interim National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, among other key officers
Watch the video here https://x.com/jrnaib2/status/194148093393443647
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