Chicago Record: Atiku accuses Tinubu of betrayal, vows to fight till Supreme Court verdict
Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, said on Thursday that he did not betray President Bola Tinubu over the certificate forgery charge he filed against him in court.
Instead, he said that the former Lagos State governor abandoned him and the Action Congress of Nigeria in favour of Umaru Yar’Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2007 presidential election.
Atiku also recounted how he spared Tinubu by not allowing former President Olusegun Obasanjo to take over Lagos State in the 2007 general elections.
However, the All Progressives Congress has slammed Atiku after his Thursday attack on Tinubu, claiming that his ill-timed news conference was in flagrant violation of the Supreme Court.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, said the ruling party was not bothered by Atiku’s claims, which it said lacked purpose and delivered nothing except “the pitiful regurgitation of lies, mindless distortions and deliberate falsehood on Atiku’s infantile obsession with the academic record of the president.’’
Read Also: Chicago State University releases statement on Tinubu’s records
But Atiku, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February elections, vowed not to give up on his quest to prove that Tinubu forged the Chicago State University certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission before the polls.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the former VP also urged the presidential candidates of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to support his quest for justice.
He expressed concern that Nigeria’s reputation was at stake, adding that “We must uphold Nigeria’s election ground rule (constitution).”
The Thursday press conference marked the third time Atiku addressed journalists since INEC declared Tinubu of the APC the winner of the presidential election.
Those who attended the world press conference were former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; ex-Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke; former National Chairmen of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus; and Senator Iyorchia Ayu, among others.
In addition to filing an election petition appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which upheld Tinubu’s victory, the PDP standard bearer had sought the academic records of the President from the Chicago State University to prove his allegation of forgery against the former Lagos State governor.
Magistrate Jeffrey Gilbert had on September 19 granted Atiku’s request for the release of Tinubu’s academic records but the President challenged the ruling, but his objection that the documents would not be relevant in Atiku’s appeal at the Supreme Court was overruled by a federal judge Nancy Maldonado, who directed the CSU to release the president’s academic records.
Responding to questions from newsmen during the news conference, Atiku denied reports that his action was a betrayal of the ex-Lagos State governor, noting that Tinubu is indebted to him for preventing former President Olusegun Obasanjo from dethroning him as governor in 2007.
He revealed, “In 2007, we came together to form ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) and in Lagos at the convention, I emerged and got the ticket. And after the convention, a few of our friends who were here met me and told me Bola wanted to be my running mate. So, I asked for their opinion on Muslim-Muslim tickets.
Atiku who pledged to fight on, promised to sheath his sword after the Supreme Court must have passed judgment on the matter.
Justifying his demand for Tinubu’s CSU records, Atiku explained, “We undertook this journey at great cost and for important reasons. The ground rules for legitimate governance in our country need to be upheld, and the reputation of our country is at stake. That affects everyone, Nigerians everywhere.’’
