I received a WhatsApp message from Waziri Atiku Abubakar on Sunday afternoon in response to my open letter to him, published earlier that day under the title “And Now You Call Him Bola”. This followed another article I published the previous Sunday, titled “The 7th Bid of Waziri”.
For the record, his message read:
“PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE, FEMI. YOU SIMPLY DON’T HAVE THE CREDIBILITY TO CRITICISE ME.”
My response, among other things, was as follows:
“IF I AM NOT CREDIBLE ENOUGH TO EXPOSE YOU, THEN WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU ARE CREDIBLE ENOUGH TO EXPOSE OR DISRESPECT OBJ, GEJ, BAT OR KS? IF I DO NOT HAVE THE CREDIBILITY TO CRITICISE YOU OR THE RIGHT TO DO SO, WHO DOES? IF I AM NOT CREDIBLE WITH ALL I HAVE EXPERIENCED, SEEN AND BEEN THROUGH IN POLITICS OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS AND THE EVIL I HAVE SURVIVED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS, THEN WHO IS? CERTAINLY NOT YOU OR AMAECHI, SIR.”
That was where our conversation ended.
Waziri, forgive me, but considering this exchange and the harsh, undignified language you used against President Tinubu at your press conference yesterday, I am inclined to agree with my learned friend and brother, Festus Keyamo, SAN, the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace. Responding to your conduct, he said:
“Atiku actually needs mental health support at this critical time as he peters out into political oblivion.”
In view of recent developments, I feel compelled to address you once again.
I was informed that on Sunday afternoon, around the same time you sent me your WhatsApp message, one of your junior supporters attempted to respond to my open letter. I was told that his article contained several allegations, including claims that my supposedly estranged former wife had made uncomplimentary remarks about me in the past.
Although we are no longer married, my former wife remains dear to me, and we have since made peace and put those matters behind us. I have denied the allegations attributed to her.
The article, which my press secretary reportedly took the time to read, was, in my view, disjointed and unworthy of a response. I consider such personal attacks beneath my dignity and status.
As the saying goes, lions do not respond to dogs, particularly those that have neither the strength nor the standing to challenge them.
I pay little attention to what your hired supporters write. I would rather address you directly.
If you lack the courage to respond to me publicly, as you have done privately, then at least allow someone better equipped for the task to represent your position. Your more experienced media allies would be better suited to such an assignment than individuals who resort to personal insults and attacks on families.
One of these prominent supporters previously referred to my former wife during a heated debate with me on X concerning President Tinubu. He insisted on bringing my family into a political disagreement.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.
Another of your supporters, a former senator known for his controversial public statements, has also directed personal attacks at the families of political opponents. He once threatened to “beat and impregnate” Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the First Lady, on the Senate floor. He later acknowledged threatening to beat her but denied making the additional threat, while making an inappropriate remark about her age and reproductive health.
During the 2023 presidential election campaign, he also mocked President Tinubu’s age and health through insulting songs at campaign rallies.
These incidents raise an important question: do you encourage such conduct among those around you, or are these individuals simply acting out of their own poor judgement and lack of discipline?
Whatever the explanation, I hold you responsible for failing to restrain those who claim to represent your political interests.
Is this truly the best your media team can offer? Must political communication descend into discussions about spouses, former spouses and private family matters? If that is the standard they intend to maintain, perhaps they would be better suited to writing for entertainment and celebrity publications.
Where were these individuals twenty years ago, when you and I served together in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Federal Executive Council?
Now that your supporters have chosen to introduce personal matters into political discourse, I must warn you that the consequences may extend beyond what they anticipated. If they believe such tactics will silence me, they are mistaken.
Your aides should remember that I am not a candidate in the forthcoming election, but you are.
There was a time when the families of political figures were treated as private and generally excluded from political battles. Sadly, that restraint appears to be disappearing. Your camp has lowered the standard of political engagement, and it may eventually regret doing so.
I am therefore prepared to revisit public records concerning your former wife, Jennifer Douglas, including statements attributed to her, the disputes between you and the allegations surrounding the Mambilla Power Plant project and other controversial matters.
For example, a 2010 report by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations documented more than $40 million in suspicious transfers involving Jennifer Douglas, who was then your wife.
I would like to know your explanation of those findings. To be fair, the report did not result in an indictment or criminal conviction against you. Nevertheless, the issues it raised warrant scrutiny and clarification.
Whatever my former wife may have said about me, she did not, as far as I know, throw my personal belongings, including my underwear, into the street from my Dubai home and retain the property and its contents, including the furniture, cars, washing machine and kitchen utensils.
Nor did she publicly complain about my friendships with men.
There are also the recent statements attributed to Fati Muhammed, a Kannywood actress and former associate who says she was once close to you.
Only a few days ago, she reportedly stated:
“I have been supporting Atiku in politics since 2007, and what has kept me away from him is his lies and broken promises.”
One cannot help wondering what experiences led her to make such allegations. Perhaps further information will emerge in due course.
Beyond these personal disputes, there are other matters relating to your public career that deserve examination.
We should revisit your years as a Customs officer, including allegations concerning the passage of 51 suitcases through Lagos Airport and questions surrounding your relationship with the Italian businessman Gabriele Volpi and his son, Matteo.
We should also examine your association with NICOTES, which later became Intels, and how you acquired a substantial shareholding in a major corporation while still serving as a Customs officer, despite the relatively modest salary associated with that position.
Your tenure as Vice-President between 1999 and 2007 also deserves renewed attention. That period was marked by serious disagreements with President Obasanjo, corruption allegations and investigations by American authorities. Obasanjo himself later expressed regret over choosing you as his running mate and publicly described you as “very corrupt”.
Another matter that merits scrutiny is the case involving former United States Congressman William J. Jefferson, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2009 after investigators found $90,000 in cash in his freezer. The money was linked to a proposed $500,000 bribe intended for a senior Nigerian government official.
You have been linked in allegations to the Nigerian official in question. However, it is important to distinguish allegations from established facts: you were not indicted or convicted in connection with that matter, and I cannot present the alleged connection as proven.
Nevertheless, the circumstances warrant questions and a careful examination of the available evidence.
If you believe there are lingering doubts about your possible involvement, you should consider cooperating with the appropriate American authorities to address them. Such cooperation could help clarify the matter and counter the allegations surrounding it.
There is also the unresolved controversy concerning an alleged Special Purpose Vehicle, or SPV. Your former media aide, Michael Achimugu, reportedly claimed that you told him the arrangement was created to avoid what you allegedly described as “open corruption” and to divert public funds for financing the PDP and your personal needs.
In 2023, Achimugu released an audio recording of a conversation involving a man he identified as you. The recording allegedly contained admissions concerning a scheme to divert funds.
You denied that the voice was yours. I cannot independently confirm its identity and therefore cannot claim that the allegations have been established.
Even so, allegations of this nature are serious enough to warrant a thorough and impartial investigation. If evidence supports the claims, the appropriate authorities should take the necessary legal steps.
Instead, you continue to pursue the presidency while questioning the credibility of those who criticise you. That position invites legitimate questions about accountability and public trust.
The suggestion that an ordinary Nigerian citizen lacks the credibility to question a presidential aspirant with so many controversies surrounding his public career is unreasonable.
I must also point to allegations concerning events dating back to the 1980s and 1990s. These matters should be examined against credible records and evidence so that the public can distinguish substantiated facts from rumours.
One issue concerns claims that you have faced difficulties travelling freely to the United States and that associates arranged a special visa package for you in 2019. I cannot independently verify those claims, and they should not be treated as established facts. Nevertheless, if credible evidence exists, the circumstances deserve clarification.
These questions matter because you are seeking the highest political office in Nigeria. Nigerians have a legitimate interest in the backgrounds, records and conduct of those who aspire to lead them.
You speak of credibility, but I am not the person accused of betraying a political principal and subsequently presiding over decisions that critics say compromised the public interest.
You did that, and if given another opportunity, I believe you would repeat it.
In my view, your record does not place you above me in terms of political experience, credibility, education, upbringing or family background.
Your considerable wealth may enable you to acquire houses, cars, gold bars and private jets. It may also help you finance political parties and attract the admiration of loyal supporters and political cheerleaders.
But money cannot purchase class, character or integrity. Neither can it control the will of God or determine the ultimate destiny of any individual.
(END OF PART 1)
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the author of this essay, is a former Minister of Aviation and Minister of Culture and Tourism. He has also served as Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, and is a legal practitioner.
