The Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation has demanded an apology from the Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign over its failed attempt to smear Atiku’s reputation, based on the false testimony of an alleged serial blackmailer, Mike Achimugu.
Spokesperson of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Organization, Kola Ologbondiyan, made the demand at a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
In his words, “Now that Tinubu’s evil diversionary scheme against Atiku Abubakar has failed and Nigerians have seen that there is no iota of truth in his allegation against Atiku Abubakar, our Campaign demands that Tinubu should tender an unreserved apology to Atiku Abubakar, he should listen to the voice within and withdraw from the presidential race.
“If anyone is to be arrested and disqualified from the presidential race on account of corruption, certainly that person is not Atiku Abubakar but Bola Tinubu.“
He described Tinubu as an artful dodger who was trying to divert attention from his shady past with baseless allegations against Atiku whose academic, business interests as well as public service records were in the public domain.
The Atiku campaign challenged Tinubu to come clean about allegations of his involvement in the use of “Special Purpose Vehicles”, especially the Alpha Beta Company, to fleece Lagos State under the guise of tax collection.
Ologbondiyan said: “Like the age-long aphorism states, those who dig pits for the innocent always fall into them.
“This is the case in the vexatious plots by Asiwaju Tinubu to divert attention from his litany of atrocities by seeking to impugn on the impeccable character of our Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, with unfounded controversy of corruption.
“Today, the entire world has seen that the real Mr. SPV; the Corruption kingpin, the real ‘artful dodger’ of Nigeria is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ‘emilokan’ Presidential Candidate of the APC.
“Bola Tinubu, sensing that his many corrupt activities, especially his fleecing of Lagos State with many Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) companies was about to come to light, rushed to hire a serial blackmailer, as he has always done, to foul the public space with fabricated allegations against Atiku Abubakar.”
The PDP PCC Spokesperson added that, “Nigerians now know of how Tinubu has been desperately trying to divert attention from his alleged use of Alpha Beta Consulting Limited and Alpha Beta LPP, companies he reportedly owned by proxy, to loot N100bn tax money belonging to Lagos State, since 2002.
“It is now in public domain how Alpha Beta, which has for over 20 years held the exclusive rights to collect taxes in Lagos State in return for a commission under very shady arrangements through which it reportedly siphoned billions of naira belonging to Lagos State.
“The public is now aware of a petition before an anti-corruption agency wherein Tinubu’s alleged SPV company was reported to have used another company which shares same address with Tinubu’s office on Idowu Taylor Street in Lagos to launder Lagos State funds.
“Bola Tinubu should come out clean and speak to these damning money laundering allegations against him.
“He should explain to Nigerians how billions of naira belonging to Lagos State and meant for the welfare of the people, reportedly found its way into Soft Alliance and ended in bits and pieces in foreign currencies into domiciliary accounts allegedly owned by him in commercial banks.”
