Alhaji Abubakar Atiku: Politics, Intrigues, and Corruption Scandal

Abubakar Atiku is a Nigerian politician and businessman who has played a significant role in the country’s political landscape. He is a former vice president of Nigeria and has been a major figure in Nigerian politics for over two decades. He has held various positions in government and has been a member of several political parties throughout his career.

Atiku began his political career in the 1980s as a member of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He later joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 and was elected as the Vice President of Nigeria in 1999. During his tenure as vice president, Atiku played a key role in the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo and was credited with playing a key role in the country’s economic reforms.

In 2007, Atiku ran for president on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) party but lost to the then-president, Umaru Yar’Adua. He later returned to the PDP but fell out with the party leadership and formed the Action Peoples Party (APP) in 2018.

Atiku has been known for his pro-market policies and has advocated for economic liberalization and private-sector-led growth. He has also been a vocal critic of corruption and has called for greater transparency and accountability in government.

In 2019, Atiku ran for president again on the platform of the PDP but lost to the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari. Despite his loss, Atiku remains an influential figure in Nigerian politics and continues to play a key role in shaping the country’s political landscape.

Is Alhaji Abubakar Atiku the Most Corrupt Vice-President of Nigeria?

As Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku was embroiled in conflict with the President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who accused Atiku of being corrupt. Atiku was named in numerous corruption scandals, the most egregious being the Halliburton case. As noted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the case involved a foreign consortium of companies who bribed Nigerian officials with over $180million to win the contracts for the building of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas plant in Bonny Island, the Niger Delta. Despite that Obasanjo left no one in doubt that Atiku was involved, he did little to nothing to bring him to book.

Many of the foreign nationals that were involved in the matter were tried in their home country and those found guilty, including an American Senator, were jailed, the Nigerian authorities refused to prosecute any of its citizens for allegedly receiving over $182 million bribe.

The United States, unlike Nigeria that refused to act, investigated the Halliburton corruption scandal because Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a former subsidiary of Halliburton, was a US company. Moreover, the United States’ interest in the corruption scandal can also not be dissociated from Mr. Dick Cheney, who served as the chairman and chief executive of Halliburton between 1995 and 2000. Following Cheney’s emergence as the U.S. vice-president in 2001, Americans were desirous to know the role of Cheney, if any, in the corruption scandal. As things turned out, Cheney had no hands in the scandal.

In court, Halliburton and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) entered into a guilty plea and paid $579 million fine, which is the largest corruption settlement ever paid by a US company in the world. In addition, Mr. Jeffrey Tesler, a U.K. lawyer, who used a network of secretive banks and offshore tax havens to funnel the $182 million bribes to top Nigerian officials, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in the scandal. For serving as the go-between and conduit through which KBR, Halliburton, JGC Corporation (a Japanese firm), Paris-based Technip, Italy’s ENI S.p.A. and its Dutch subsidiary Snamprogetti Netherlands B.V., and the other consortium members the bribes funneled bribes to corrupt Nigerian officials, Mr. Tesler also forfeited $149 million from his Swiss accounts to the US government.

Different members of the consortium were also penalized for their involvements. Wojciech Chodan and Albert Stanley, former chairman and CEO of KBR, forfeited $1.5 billion to government for their roles. Besides monetary forfeiture, Mr. Chodan was also sentenced to one year of probation while his counterpart, Mr. Stanley, served 30 months in prison.

As the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed, during the court process and in a leaked records from HSBC, a global bank based in London, Mr. Abu Shuaibu, retired General Chris Garuba (a former governor of Bauchi State, former Commandant of the National War College, and former Commander of UN forces in Angola) and his wife Rita Garuba, were also involved in the bribery scandal. Also mentioned as associates of Mr. Tesler and Abu Shuaibu was Andrew Agom – a senior government official and chieftain of the Peoples’ Democratic Party who later died in a car accident.

In Nigeria, efforts to trace Mr. Abu Shuaibu have since proved abortive. As noted in bank records, he was a Nigerian real estate dealer, with P.O. Box 53322, Ikoyi WAN-Lagos address on file. Other biodata information included that he was 65-year-old and the sole operator of the Bridlington’s accounts. He last operated the account at HSBC in Switzerland personally, making several cash withdrawals and transferring $600,000 on November 11, 2005.

Many anti-corruption crusaders have repeatedly called on different Nigerian governments to investigate, identify, and prosecute any Nigerian citizen involved in the corruption scandal. No Nigerian governments heeded the calls until Buhari’s government. Since coming to office, President Muhammadu Buhari mandated the EFCC to reopen the investigation and one Mr. Dodo, who was said to have received $4.5million through his firm, DD Dodo and Co. purportedly as legal fees, a former minister and five other Senior Advocates of Nigeria were interrogated. They were believed to have received a total of $26million from Halliburton, as part of their shares of the bribe.

In 2010, a Nigerian government document revealed that three Nigerian presidents, a vice-president, a minister, intelligence chiefs and many government officials were beneficiaries of the corruption scandal. Strangely, the report omitted names such as those of the Garubas, Agom, and Abu Shuaibu that were named abroad as partakers in the scheme.

Many believed that the mythical and elusive Mr. Abu Shuaibu is allegedly none other than Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Until proven in a court of competent jurisdiction, any linkage of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar with crime and criminality is self-serving, false, and bogus, as until proven guilty, a person – any person, is innocent. Alhaji Abubakar Atiku has not been brought before any court and he remains a prominent and innocent Nigerian politician and businessman whose role in Nigeria’s development cannot be overemphasized. He has played a significant role in the country’s political landscape for over two decades. He has held various positions in government, been a member of several political parties and has been a major figure in Nigerian politics. As earlier noted, Atiku is known for his pro-market policies and his criticism of corruption and has been influential in shaping the country’s political landscape.

He is the presidential flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in this month’s Presidential election in Nigeria.