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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a liar.
Abubakar, who was reacting to several allegations of corrupt practices levelled against him by his former boss, said Obasanjo was economical with the truth in an interview he granted the official magazine of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Abubakar, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Mallam Garba Shehu, said it was untrue that he risked jail if he travelled to the United States of America.
The statement said: “The former President is wrong.
“It is widely known that Atiku didn’t enter government broke.
“He declared his assets at the commencement of his Vice Presidency and did so at the end of his term as required by the constitution, which is a sacred document to Atiku.”
Shehu said further: “Atiku, who is currently returning from China after leading a private economic trade mission at the invitation of the Chinese government, travels often and has a well-documented record of building industries and putting thousands of Nigerians to work. And this record, quite frankly, has been thoroughly investigated.”
While reiterating that Abubakar has no case against him by any arm of the law in any country in the world, including the United States of America, Shehu observed: “President Obasanjo’s repeated ‘jokes’ about Turaki not being able to go to America have become cliché, tiresome and not true.”
The Media Adviser recalled that in 2006, former President Obasanjo sent his National Security Adviser to stop Abubakar from travelling to the US, saying that the vice president risked arrest on arrival.
Shehu said that Turaki spurned that advice, left Nigeria to land at the Andrews Air Force Base, the official airport of the US Government, to receive the best reception ever on a visit to America.
“So, we are used to those taunts,” he said.
He noted that when the former vice president left office shortly before the late Musa Yar’Adua was inaugurated as President, Abubakar spent three months in the US, adding that if they (US authorities) wanted him for anything, they would have met him.
Shehu said: “It is time to start dealing in facts. Specifically, the fact that Atiku’s visa to visit the United States has been recently renewed.
“Another fact is Atiku is one of the most investigated politicians in Nigerian history. And every investigation, whether politically motivated here at home or by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) abroad, has yielded the same result every time: not guilty.
“If Atiku is guilty of anything, it is crushing persistent attempts at re-writing our constitution.
“Atiku has chosen the path of optimism and hope. Moving forward, he will continue working to fuel Nigeria’s economy through investment and job creation, while also passionately and persistently defending our young democracy.”
