Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Presidency for invoking China’s legal system in its defence of President Bola Tinubu, arguing that the comparison had instead drawn greater attention to allegations surrounding the President’s past.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Presidency had scored a “monumental own goal” by citing a country where serious drug trafficking offences attract severe penalties.
The latest exchange follows an earlier response by the Presidency to reports that a lobbying group linked to Atiku had submitted petitions to US President Donald Trump and the US State Department concerning a 1993 civil forfeiture case involving Tinubu and other issues.
Responding, Atiku accused the Presidency of resorting to personal attacks instead of addressing the substantive issues raised.
“When governments abandon facts for insults and substitute evidence with abuse, they unwittingly admit that they have run out of convincing answers. Nigerians expected clarification. What they received instead was a barrage of name-calling and political invective,” the statement said.
Atiku argued that the Presidency’s attempt to use China as a point of comparison had instead invited greater scrutiny of Tinubu.
“It takes a peculiar kind of unintelligence for a spokesman to set out to drag an opponent before a hypothetical Chinese court, only to end up dragging his own principal into the dock.
“Perhaps, the spokesman did not realise that the maximum penalty under Chinese law for the most serious drug trafficking offences is death. Having chosen China as his benchmark, he unwittingly invited Nigerians to examine the very standard he thought would embarrass Atiku Abubakar,” the statement added.
The former vice-president maintained that he had never been indicted or convicted of corruption, drug-related offences or any other criminal offence in Nigeria or abroad.
“The facts are neither complicated nor disputable. Atiku Abubakar has never been indicted or convicted by any court in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world for corruption, narcotics offences or, indeed, any criminal offence whatsoever. That is an incontrovertible matter of public record,” Shaibu said.
Atiku further argued that if the Tinubu administration intended to use China as a benchmark for accountability, Nigerians were equally entitled to ask how Chinese authorities would have treated a case involving the civil forfeiture of 460,000 US dollars to the United States Government in proceedings concerning funds alleged to be linked to narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
“China is renowned for its uncompromising approach to narcotics-related offences and public accountability. It is not a jurisdiction where the forfeiture of suspicious proceeds ordinarily marks the end of official scrutiny. More often than not, that is where scrutiny begins,” the statement said.
He also criticised the administration’s record on governance, alleging that issues including budget irregularities, abuse of office and alleged misconduct by public officials would have attracted swifter action under China’s system.
The former vice-president dismissed the Presidency’s reliance on a recent response from the United States Government to Nigeria’s diplomatic correspondence as evidence that Tinubu had been cleared of wrongdoing.
“The Presidency should also stop brandishing the United States Government’s reply to its diplomatic correspondence as though it were a judicial acquittal. Diplomatic correspondence between sovereign governments is routine. It is neither a judgment of a court, nor a declaration of innocence, nor an instrument for rewriting history,” he said.
Atiku urged the Federal Government to focus on tackling Nigeria’s economic and security challenges rather than engaging in political disputes.
“The Tinubu administration would do better to devote its dwindling political capital to confronting the economic hardship, rising hunger, insecurity and institutional decline afflicting Nigerians instead of manufacturing diversions that collapse at the slightest contact with the facts,” he added.
The latest exchange marks another chapter in the ongoing war of words between the Presidency and the opposition over President Tinubu’s past legal issues in the United States.
The controversy resurfaced after the Presidency cited a response from US authorities to diplomatic enquiries as evidence that there were no outstanding criminal proceedings against the President. In defending its position, a presidential spokesman reportedly argued that even under China’s legal system, the allegations against Tinubu would not have warranted criminal prosecution.
Atiku rejected that argument, insisting that invoking China’s legal standards had instead intensified public scrutiny because of the country’s strict penalties for serious drug-related offences and its tough anti-corruption regime.
