Atiku challenges Tinubu to produce evidence over $16bn power spending

Etim Ekpimah

Former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar has demanded that President Bola Tinubu produce clear, verifiable proof linking him to the disputed $16 billion power‑sector expenditure. In a statement issued on Wednesday by his spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said he would welcome any formal investigation and, where warranted, prosecution.

He accused the administration and its supporters of dredging up long‑standing allegations as a deliberate diversion from growing calls for transparency over funds said to have been saved after the petrol subsidy was removed.

He said the renewed attention to power projects, privatisation and state assets coincided with rising public concern about how the additional revenues have been spent.

Atiku noted that the National Assembly had investigated the power projects but that he was never called to answer any allegations. He acknowledged chairing the National Council on Privatisation while vice‑president, but insisted he did not oversee project implementation, saying those responsibilities lay with the relevant minister; he made the same distinction in relation to the aluminium smelter.

He said he had repeatedly invited formal inquiries into his conduct. “I left office in 2007 and have spent much of the period since then opposing governments in power. If there is evidence that I stole public money, why has no government produced it before a court?” he asked. “Investigate me. Invite me. Produce the evidence. Prosecute me if you have a case. But propaganda cannot substitute for evidence.”

The ADC presidential candidate said the allegations had resurfaced amid his sustained criticism of the government’s handling of the economic fallout from subsidy removal. He noted that the public had been told subsidy savings would be channelled into development, yet ordinary Nigerians were now facing higher costs for fuel, transport and food, with a corresponding erosion of purchasing power.

“At present, petrol is more expensive, transport is more expensive, food is more expensive and the purchasing power of the Nigerian worker has been devastated,” he said, questioning how increased revenues had been managed and alleging that fiscal incentives, waivers and concessions continued to favour powerful economic interests.

“So our question remains simple: where is the people’s money?” Atiku demanded, accusing the administration of hypocrisy for cutting relief to the poor while defending interventions for influential businesses as necessary incentives.

He dismissed what he described as orchestrated social‑media attacks and insisted they would not deter his calls for accountability or his advocacy for policies to restore living standards.

“If you have evidence against Atiku, bring it. If you have a case, prosecute it. But if you have neither, stop manufacturing distractions and answer Nigerians: you removed the subsidy; you collected the savings; where is the money?”