Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has rejected fresh claims by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo that he gave late House Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba N5 million to push for Obasanjo’s impeachment, describing the allegation as unfair and politically timed.
In a statement released Friday titled “The Grave Is Not A Witness Box” and signed by his media aide Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused Obasanjo of reviving old allegations to damage his reputation ahead of the 2027 elections.
Atiku said it was reckless for Obasanjo to make the claim now that Na’Abba is dead and cannot respond.
“As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him,” Atiku said.
He asked why Obasanjo never raised the matter publicly while Na’Abba was alive, and why no legal action was taken if a bribe was actually paid during Obasanjo’s administration. According to Atiku, there was no judicial finding or official record to support the claim.
Atiku linked the timing to current political alignments, saying the goal was to “besmirch my person and reputation and confer an undeserved political advantage on the former President’s kinsman” ahead of 2027. He added that Nigerians are too aware to be distracted by allegations “resurrected for political convenience.”
The ADC presidential candidate also traced the rift to his opposition to Obasanjo’s third-term agenda. He said he chose to defend the Constitution instead, and won several court cases against the sitting president at the time.
“Those battles are now part of Nigeria’s democratic history. It is evident that the bitterness arising from that defining period has failed to leave former President Obasanjo,” he said.
Atiku said he would not get drawn into a decades-old feud while Nigerians face inflation, debt, unemployment, insecurity and hunger. He urged leaders to focus on “rescuing the future” rather than rewriting the past.
He also said Obasanjo is free to back any candidate for 2027, but should state it openly instead of recycling unproven claims.
Obasanjo had alleged on Thursday that Atiku invited Na’Abba to his office on a Friday when Obasanjo was away, and handed him N5 million to begin impeachment proceedings. Obasanjo claimed the plan was to limit him to one term, and that the plot was reported to him by his Chief of Staff, who he described as a professional intelligence officer.
Obasanjo said he dismissed the threat because he believed he had committed no impeachable offence, and that former President Shehu Shagari later offered to intervene.
The public exchange comes as political discussions ahead of the 2027 general election begin to intensify.
