Musa Simon Reef
28 December 2008
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday denied any link with bribes offered by Siemens to some prominent officials of the Obasanjo government, stressing that it amounted to a reckless conclusion for persons to assume that he was involved in receiving bribes from the company through a member of his family.
Atiku was reacting to a story carried by a national newspaper (not Sunday Trust) that Atiku and former President Olusegun Obasanjo benefited from $2.8 million bribes paid by Siemens to Nigerian officials through the account of the wife of a former vice president.
According to statement signed by Garba Shehu of the Atiku Campaign Organisation and made available to Sunday Trust, "The SEC report alleges that an amount of USD 2.8 million was paid as bribes to Nigerian officials "through a bank account in Potomac, Maryland in the name of the wife of a former Nigerian Vice President. The Vice President's wife is a dual U.S-Nigeria citizen". Although no further specific details were supplied, the Punch reached the hasty, fatal and reckless conclusion that this must be Atiku and his family. They are wrong on this and we are ready to stake everything to show that the former Vice President and his family are in no way connected, directly or indirectly with the odious business practices that characterised Siemens in Nigeria.
"Atiku has not had any, repeat for emphasis" has not had " business links to Siemens neither did he have a direct responsibility for telecoms projects in office to warrant the attention of bribe givers throughout his years in office as the Vice President of Nigeria. Atiku has equally confirmed with every emphasis at his disposal that his wife, who is usually a very prudent and meticulous person had not entered into any form of relationships with Siemens or contractors of whatever hue. She denied receiving any payments from Siemens or any contractors or businessmen covering the period before, during, and after her husband left public office. Nobody made any such payments into her accounts or that of any family members. In fact, it is important to stress here that throughout the period covered by the report, which is 2000-2001, Mrs Abubakar had no bank account in Maryland, USA.The former V.P's U.S lawyers are top on the situation."
Promising the unmask the forces behind the attempt to tarnish the image of the former Veepee, the statement said that, "In the light of the foregoing the former Vice President, who is now becoming a regular victim of such hoaxes has challenged anyone with specific information or provable facts on the beneficiaries of the alleged bribes parading themselves as a former Vice President or his family to not to hesitate to come forward and present them before the competent security agencies and he, for his part, is willing, as he did in the past, to present himself and cooperate fully with any agency that is genuinely committed to unraveling the identities of the persons involved in the latest scandal . He pleads that the public should not rush its decision on the matter.
"The former Vice President is aware, as is a majority of Nigerians that the toga and nomenclature of the Nigerian Vice President had at some point in the last eight or nine years of our history become something like a borrowed uniform that was worn all around by the many shady characters that were paraded by the Presidency who went about committing all manner of inequities. Each time Atiku faced these challenges, he came out clean and even better. As he had dealt with many of these in the past, this too shall come to pass."
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Atiku again? Why can't this man(Is it thing?) with an Ijaw sounding name not melt into thin air and settle at some town in Bayelsa State where no one may care about his presence? He may for example, move to Sangana in Akassa and mention that Kientimi said that they should let him stay in peace, until, he passes away to somehere with some "Fourteen Virgins" in waiting. That will be ten more than the four he now owns? Besides, they were no virgins.
The business of corruption is not the most crucial problems confronting Nigeria. The issue must be focused on national leadership not on "Nuhu and his boys". Nigeria and Africa must enact a "national patriotic act empowering the mass population through propaganda, indoctrination, uniform cultural education geared towards the collective benefits of a utopia society". A Nigerian with his own peoples popular mandate to lead them in their dreams and aspirations for decent life, short changes his own people when millions of Naira $$ came missing under his watch, while children dies of malaria or cholera because of lack of… [Read Full Text]
All of you must be very ashamed of yourselves.