- APC tells Nigerians
By Chesa Chesa
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged Nigerians to scrutinise former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s record in public office ahead of the 2027 presidential election, citing longstanding controversies over alleged financial impropriety and his association with several investigations in Nigeria and abroad.
In a statement on Thursday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said recent developments surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project had revived questions about Atiku’s record and called on voters to consider the issues when assessing presidential candidates.
Morka’s statement followed renewed attention to a $500,000 payment made in January 2003 by Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s then-wife. The payment was examined by a three-member International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal in its recent award in the arbitration between Sunrise Power and the Federal Government.
According to reports on the tribunal’s findings, Adesanya told the tribunal that the payment was a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku. The tribunal rejected Sunrise Power’s claims against Nigeria, while raising concerns about the evidence presented to explain the payment.
Atiku has denied that the ICC proceedings amounted to an indictment or corruption verdict against him. He said the arbitration did not establish such a finding.
Morka, however, linked the Mambilla controversy to other historical cases involving Atiku, including the Siemens bribery investigation, the William Jefferson case and a 2010 report by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concerning suspicious funds associated with Atiku and Douglas.
A 2010 US Senate investigation examined more than $40 million in funds moved into the United States between 2000 and 2008 through offshore companies and accounts associated with Douglas. A US State Department report subsequently referenced the findings, describing the funds as “suspect” and noting that they included alleged bribe payments from a foreign corporation.
The APC spokesman also invoked former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent criticism of his former deputy.
In August 2026, Obasanjo said he would not have selected Atiku as his running mate in 1999 had he known what he later came to know about him. When asked whether he was referring to Atiku, Obasanjo confirmed that he was referring to his former vice president.
Atiku subsequently responded that his opposition to Obasanjo’s third-term bid was based on his commitment to Nigeria’s Constitution and democracy, saying he had chosen Nigeria over personal loyalty.
Morka also criticised Atiku’s recent position on fuel subsidy removal, contrasting it with his position during the 2023 election cycle. He argued that the issue should be considered alongside the former vice president’s economic policy proposals ahead of 2027.
The APC spokesman alleged that Atiku’s proposed return of fuel subsidy would undermine the government’s economic reforms. The statement, however, did not provide independent evidence for its claim that Atiku’s policy position was motivated by an intention to gain access to or misuse public funds.
Morka concluded by describing Atiku as unsuitable for the presidency and urging Nigerians to reject his bid in 2027.
