By Aare Amerijoye DOT.B
There is a peculiar species of audacity that grows only in the rich soil of political amnesia. It is the audacity of men who set fire to the public square and then stand before the smoke, presenting themselves as firefighters. The performance that the All Progressives Congress has constructed around Atiku Abubakar is not argument. It is theatre. And it cannot survive a sober comparison with the man its principals serve.
Place the two biographies side by side and what emerges is not a moral drama. It is a carnival of contradictions.
The Institutional Record
For over two decades, every institution empowered to prosecute corruption has examined Atiku Abubakar and walked away without a charge. No conviction in Nigeria. No indictment in the United States. No prosecution by the Department of Justice. No listing by INTERPOL. No action by the UK Serious Fraud Office. The EFCC, which has prosecuted governors and ministers, has not brought a prosecutable case against him.
The oft-cited United States Senate Subcommittee report of 2010 referenced transactions involving his wife. It did not indict Atiku. No prosecution followed. The claim that he was banned from entering the United States collapsed in January 2019 when he flew to Washington and was admitted without restriction. The propaganda moved on without apology.
In a country where political prosecution is a routine weapon, the absence of a single charge after years of allegations and scrutiny is not a footnote. It is a fact that demands to be confronted.
The Federal Court Record
Now examine what a court actually decided about the other man. In 1993, the United States District Court in Chicago ordered the forfeiture of $460,000 connected to accounts associated with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, within proceedings linked to narcotics-related investigations. This was not merely an allegation reported by a political opponent; it was a federal court proceeding resulting in a forfeiture order.
Whatever political interpretation may subsequently be placed on that record, the judicial record itself remains part of the public archive. It cannot simply be erased because its subject now occupies Aso Rock.
Two Records, One Comparison
Atiku Abubakar served in the Nigeria Customs Service for nearly two decades, building a career in public service before politics or cameras became central to his public life. He subsequently built INTELS Nigeria Limited into one of Nigeria’s prominent logistics companies, founded the American University of Nigeria in Yola, and served as Vice President of Nigeria.
During the Obasanjo administration, in which Atiku served as Vice President, Nigeria recorded significant economic growth, foreign reserves increased substantially, and the country secured the landmark Paris Club debt relief.
Tinubu governed Lagos and his supporters point to that record as evidence of administrative competence. That record deserves to be debated on its merits. But Lagos is a state; the presidency is a national responsibility. Since May 2023, Nigerians have confronted severe economic pressures, including a dramatic decline in the purchasing power of the naira, high inflation and escalating food prices.
When the present administration is challenged over these realities, its defenders frequently redirect the conversation toward Atiku Abubakar.
That is the political strategy this article seeks to expose: when the present becomes difficult to defend, resurrect the past; when performance becomes uncomfortable, attack the opponent.
The Ledger
One man carries allegations that have repeatedly been invoked politically but have not resulted in a criminal conviction against him. The other carries a documented federal court forfeiture arising from proceedings linked to narcotics-related investigations, alongside a presidency whose economic record is now being judged by millions of Nigerians facing the daily pressures of inflation, food costs and declining purchasing power.
The carnival of accusations may continue. The political industry built around attacking Atiku may become even louder.
But elections are ultimately not won by accusations alone.
In 2027, Nigerians will not be voting with their ears. They will be voting with their experience, their wallets and their stomachs.
Aare Amerijoye DOT.B
Director General,
The Narrative Force
