Stop dodging, address forgery allegations against you, Atiku tells Tinubu

Stop dodging, address forgery allegations against you, Atiku tells Tinubu

The media team of former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu and his associates to address the mounting concerns surrounding a string of alleged forgeries linked to his public life rather than engaging in diversions that could tarnish Nigeria’s image further.

During a press conference held in Abuja on Sunday, a group of aides working with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar presented this challenge. Mazi Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser, along with two colleagues, addressed the gathered audience.

Ibe emphasized that President Tinubu’s team seemed preoccupied with a seemingly trivial discrepancy in an affidavit that Atiku had deposed to over 50 years ago when he officially changed his name. He observed, “Since documents surfaced from Chicago State University, revealing a series of certificate forgeries and impersonation by President Bola A. Tinubu, there have been repeated attempts by several of his media aides to shift the focus and create an alternate narrative about the public life of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

“It became evident that what President Tinubu’s media aides and supporters were doing was essentially a selective reading of Atiku Abubakar’s public profile, until they stumbled upon a point that they believed could serve their purpose.”

Ibe went on to say, “It was rather amusing to watch them in their pursuit of a narrative, akin to a fruitless quest, until they seized upon the detail that the affidavit, in which Atiku Abubakar expressed his desire to be known as Atiku Abubakar, was signed on a Saturday on August 18, 1973. This insignificant detail became the focal point of their argument.”

He underlined that the fixation on the day of the week an affidavit was signed appeared trivial when compared to the significant allegations surrounding President Tinubu. These include revelations that Bola A. Tinubu was initially a female name, the submission of a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission, and his status as the “Guinea pig student” at Government College Lagos.

Ibe stressed that concentrating on the day of the week of the affidavit’s signing did not negate the serious allegations against Tinubu. He concluded by saying, “So, it was revealed that Atiku’s affidavit was signed on a Saturday, and they became quite enthusiastic, similar to a diesel locomotive. They bring to mind the 1974 album by the legendary Elton John titled ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.'”