What does Atiku really want? — by Kunle Oyatomi

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is no stranger to the presidential race, having contested the office six times: 1993, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023.
Given his hopeless ambition, many Nigerians see Atiku in two ways: a desperate politician and a failed presidential candidate.

His persistent pursuit of the presidency, by what many perceive as any means necessary, has partly contributed to why he is not respected by many Nigerians.

His atrocious record as Vice President and alleged attempts to undermine his former boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, have also made him an untrusted ally in political circles.

Some of the country’s most prominent political figures have never minced words in their descriptions of him. For instance, Obasanjo, his former boss, described the Adamawa politician as a blatant and shameless liar.

Also, a member of his former party, Nyesom Wike, called him a serial failure who never keeps to his words, even as Bode George, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, which he rendered prostrate to actualise his presidential ambition, viewed Atiku as an individual that cannot be trusted, especially as he places his presidential ambition above PDP’s interests.

Given such unfavorable assessments by his boss, friends and political associates, I had long anticipated that Atiku would make a controversial move ahead of the 2027 elections, like he had always done.

Therefore, it did not come as a shock to me to see him turn to the international community by allegedly hiring a Washington-based lobbying firm to revive an old issue and tarnish President Bola Tinubu’s image abroad.

The firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., disclosed that it was providing records from the United States Department of Justice, DOJ,.concerning allegations linked to a 1993 civil forfeiture proceeding involving funds connected to Tinubu.

Von Batten-Montague-York said: “Following discussions with members of the Trump administration, Congress and senior congressional staff, we began providing more than 60 pages of Department of Justice documents concerning the DOJ’s allegations relating to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s alleged involvement in a heroin trafficking investigation spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s.”

To me, this decision to internationalise a matter that had already featured prominently in Nigeria’s judicial process is reminiscent of the mindset Fela Anikulapo-Kuti criticised in his song Kolo Mentality. In the song, Fela condemned those who have turned into a habit to seek foreign validation while placing little value on their own institutions and country.

This is despite the fact that the issue had already featured prominently in litigation arising from the 2023 presidential election. Atiku argued before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, that Tinubu ought to have been disqualified over the 1993 civil forfeiture of $460,000 in the United States.

However, in its judgment, the PEPC held that the petitioners had failed to establish that Tinubu had been convicted of any criminal offence in the United States.

Fela said: “If you say you be colonial man. You don be slave man before. Them don release you now. But you never release yourself.”

The truth is that why Nigeria and Nigerians gained independence from colonial rule many years ago, Atiku, a proven foreign stooge, has refused to let go of his masters, especially on a case already decided by a court.

It was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, in John 8:7, told the religious leaders who brought a woman accused of adultery before Him: “Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone at her.”

For many of us, Atiku’s legal history in the United States of America is still fresh in our memories. This includes the William Jefferson bribery scandal, in which the American congressman was convicted and jailed, and a 2010 U.S. Senate investigation chaired by Senator Carl Levin titled Keeping Foreign Corruption Out of the United States: Four Case Histories.
The report documented how Atiku used offshore companies to bring suspect funds, including alleged bribes from multinationals running into millions of dollars, into the United States. In fact, Atiku’s former wife, Jennifer Douglas, was also cited as a subject of that investigation.

So, it is not like the presidential candidate is a saint whose public records are clean. He is in no position to cast stones from a glass house. However, the one thing I can tell him is that he is chasing shadow, and Tinubu will once again trounce him on this issue ahead of the 2027 elections.

Meanwhile, President Trump having reviewed Tinubu’s records has lauded Jagaban for his decisive leadership “on behalf of the Nigerian people.”

Trump applauded Tinubu’s resolve “to tackle the issues plaguing Nigeria, especially the violence affecting Christian communities. It is a true honour to stand with you in the fight against these terrorists and to make the Federal Republic of Nigeria stronger and more prosperous.”

Trump, in a letter, stated: “The United States-Nigeria relationship is crucial at a time where conflict has spread across West Africa and around the world. We both share a mutual goal of confronting terrorism in all its forms, and our historic US-Nigeria 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap has established a robust framework to accomplish this feat.”

If Atiku needs evidence that the U.S. recognises his latest move as a mere campaign to tarnish Tinubu’s image, here it is. Atiku should respect himself, rest, return to Adamawa and accept that the presidency is not meant for him.

Oyatomi Esq., Former Editor, (Sunday Vanguard 1999-2010), Author (FINGERPRINTS: Nigeria’s Tangled Transition to Nationhood 2008) and a current member of the Board of Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), a Think Tank based in Abuja.