You Goofed on China Comparison, Atiku Slams Presidency, Says Defence of Tinubu ‘Monumental Own Goal’

Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Presidency for invoking China’s legal system in its defence of President Bola Tinubu, saying the comparison had instead drawn greater attention to allegations surrounding the President’s past.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress for the 2027 election, described the Presidency’s move as a “monumental own goal” in a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

Recall that the Presidency had earlier responded to reports that Atiku’s lobbying group in the United States submitted petitions to President Donald Trump and the US State Department regarding a 1993 civil forfeiture case involving President Tinubu.

In its reaction, a presidential spokesman reportedly referenced China, arguing that even under the Asian country’s legal system, the allegations against Tinubu would not have warranted criminal prosecution. The spokesman also accused Atiku of corrupt practices during his time as vice president.

But Atiku said the Presidency’s attempt to score political points had backfired.

“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,” the statement read.

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“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,” it added.

Atiku maintained that he had never been indicted or convicted of corruption, drug-related offences or any 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 on behalf of his principal.

The ADC chieftain argued that if the Tinubu administration intended to use China as a benchmark for accountability, Nigerians were equally entitled to question how Chinese authorities would have treated “a case involving $460,000 forfeited to the United States Government in a civil forfeiture proceeding concerning funds alleged to be connected 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.

Atiku also extended the comparison to corruption and governance, claiming that under China’s system, allegations of budget padding, abuse of office and creation of a fake government agency would have attracted swift action.

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“Not in China would a president sign into law a national budget immersed in scandals, padding and duplicitous appropriations. Not in China would a President look the other way while a senior presidential aide faces grave allegations of creating a fake government agency,” he stated.

He further criticised the Presidency for presenting a recent response from the United States Government to Nigeria’s diplomatic correspondence as proof that Tinubu had been exonerated.

“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.

“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 added.

Punch reports that Atiku urged the administration to focus on addressing Nigeria’s economic and security challenges instead of engaging in political distractions.

“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 said.

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The latest exchange is the newest chapter in the war of words between the Presidency and the opposition over Tinubu’s past legal issues in the United States, which resurfaced after US authorities responded to Nigeria’s diplomatic inquiries.