Atiku In Another ‘Corruption’ Scandal

Still reeling from condemnation and calls from various quarters for his arrest over a leaked telephone conversation with an ex-aide, the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has been caught in another scandal for imploring party members to ensure they win their wards for him in order to get government ‘s contracts and jobs.

Atiku who was speaking on Wednesday at a town hall meeting with stakeholders and members of the party in Abeokuta, Ogun State, after the presidential campaign rally, was quoted as indulging the people to vote so that they can get government’s contracts and jobs when he’s elected president.

“You are all members of the PDP and supporters of the PDP,” Atiku began, adding that, “You want the PDP to return to power, please I beg of you, make sure you win your polling booths,” he implored.

Then the former Vice President warned that, “The fact that you are following the governorship candidate or the senatorial candidate or the house of representatives candidate or the presidential candidate to campaign is not a qualification that you will get an appointment.

“It is not a qualification that you will get a contract whether at the local government level, state or federal level,” he added.

He stressed that, “The only way, as far as I am concerned; if I am president, if you come and say you want a job or you want a contract, I will ask you to let me have the result of your polling booth and that is what I am going to direct to everybody because unless we do that, we will not win the elections.

“You cannot be following the governor to all the places or the senator to all the places and then you don’t win your polling booth and you come and say you want to be a minister or you want to get this contract.

“So, please as members of our party, let us make sure that we go back to our constituencies and make sure that we deliver our polling units.”

The Chief Spokesman of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo reacted to the statement on Thursday, calling Atiku ‘Mr SPV’.

“#Atikugate. A leopard cannot change its skin. He is already promising contracts to political allies, forgetting that there is a law called the Public Procurement Act. Mr. SPV!” Keyamo, who also doubles as
Minister of State for Labour and Employment said.

Atiku has been under serious condemnation for his alleged role in corruption when he was Vice President.

His former media aide, Michael Achimugu, revealed a plethora of dossiers including phone conversations where Atiku justified siphoning money via ‘SPV – Special Purpose Vehicle’. One of the accounts reportedly received N100 million from former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, who was convicted for corruption on that account.

Atiku explained in the audio published by Achimugu that, “When the governor sent donations, he sent it to Marine Float. It stayed in the Marine Float.

“One of the subscribers of Marine Float was Otunba Fasawe. That was where the N100 million went to. It did not go to Atiku Abubakar. It went to Marine Float. Marine Float was a special-purpose vehicle,” Atiku revealed in the YouTube phone recording revealed by Achimugu.

He further said, “What happened was when we came into office and I advised the president against open corruption.

“I told him to give me three people you trust and I will prepare three companies in which they will be subscribers or rather the directors.

“So that if there is any contract that we give they will act like consultants and they are given a fee. That fee is what we use to fund the party,” Atiku reportedly said.

The Atiku camp denied any wrongdoing and has described it as “blackmail” in a series of tweets by Dino Melaye, his campaign spokesman.