ABUJA — A political pressure group, The Democratic Front (TDF), has urged opposition figure Atiku Abubakar to address long-standing corruption allegations against himself before demanding explanations from President Bola Tinubu over a 30-year-old US civil forfeiture case.
In a statement signed by its chairman, Danjuma Muhammad, and secretary, Wale Adedayo, the group criticized Atiku—the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC)—accusing him of attempting to shift the focus of the ongoing political debate from policy issues to personal attacks.
The controversy follows Atiku’s demands for President Tinubu to clarify the circumstances surrounding a $460,000 civil forfeiture order issued by a US court three decades ago.
However, the TDF argued that the former vice president should first clear his own name regarding a petition before Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The petition concerns allegations over the transfer of $40 million into accounts linked to his former wife, Jennifer Douglas, between 2000 and 2008—a matter previously highlighted in a US Senate subcommittee report. ”We are displeased by the former Vice President’s desperation to shift discussions in ongoing electioneering campaigns to personality rather than issues of policies and convictions,” the TDF said.
The group stated that Atiku’s recent focus on the decades-old US incident contradicted his earlier calls for an issue-based campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections. ”The magnitude of energy and resources which the former Vice President is committing to the voyage of exhuming a civil forfeiture incident that was resolved three decades ago shows that Atiku Abubakar has nothing new to bring to the front burner to convince the electorate,” the statement read. Defending the President, the TDF maintained that Tinubu was neither indicted nor criminalized in the American court proceedings. ”To the best of our knowledge, President Tinubu was not in any way implicated… as the forfeited $460,000 was reported to be the total transferred from 10 different accounts that were not even confirmed to be directly owned or operated by the President,” the group stated. It added that the ruling was a civil forfeiture in rem, meaning the proceedings focused on the assets rather than criminal charges against an individual. Turning the focus back onto Atiku, the group claimed the former vice president had yet to provide Nigerians with a full explanation regarding the US Senate panel’s findings into his family’s financial transactions. ”It is a matter of public record that former President Olusegun Obasanjo admitted that he prevented the attempt by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate Atiku on the matter because of its implications for the image of his administration and Nigeria,” the TDF claimed. ”We deem it constitutionally and morally incumbent on the ADC presidential candidate to come to equity with clean hands, before demanding explanations from President Tinubu,” the statement concluded.
Neither Atiku Abubakar nor his media team has issued a direct response to the TDF’s latest statement, though his campaign has previously maintained that all financial transactions involving his family were legitimate and fully accounted for.
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