Atiku opens up on receiving money from Sanwo-Olu for 2023 election campaign

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says he never collected any money from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for his 2023 election campaign.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja on Thursday.

Atiku was the standard-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023.

A report alleged that Abubakar and Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in 2023, received campaign funds from Sanwo-Olu through a proxy.

However, Atiku in the statement signed by his media aide, Paul Ibe, denied the reports making the rounds that Sanwo-Olu gave money to the former vice-president for his 2023 presidential election campaign.

“Let it be known that this is a blatant lie from the pit of hell; a contrived political hogwash, and a futile campaign of calumny aimed at advancing the political interests of President Bola A. Tinubu,” the statement reads.

“It may interest Nigerians to note that the Waziri of Adamawa does not know Gov. Sanwo-Olu and indeed has never met him before.

“This piece of kindergarten propaganda is beneath the camp of Tinubu. How is it possible for an Atiku who does not know and had no connection with Sanwo-Olu to be having a transaction with him involving the exchange of money — let alone during the presidential election of 2023 in which his boss was a contestant? To what end would that be?

The media office said the claim is a “political hatchet job aimed at providing a much-needed justification” to jettison Sanwo-Olu, who appears to have fallen out of favour with Tinubu.

“Indeed, their strategy is two-fold: get rid of Sanwo-Olu and to discredit the coalition being put together by the opposition political leaders, of which Atiku Abubakar is a key stakeholder,” the media office said.

“To even underscore how poor the propaganda is, an unnamed Sanwo-Olu’s aide is quoted in the news story trashing his principal and adding fuel to the fire. Pray, who does that?

“This voyage of misadventure and campaign of calumny against the person and reputation of Atiku Abubakar must be halted immediately and with alacrity too.

Abubakar’s media office said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has been credited to be investigating the matter, should make its findings public.