The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called on African Democratic Congress candidate Atiku Abubakar to immediately withdraw from the presidential race.
The demand follows a recent ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration Tribunal in Paris, which handled a multi-billion-dollar claim against Nigeria regarding the long-stalled Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
According to the APC campaign in a statement issued by the campaigb spokesman, Dele Alake, hearings in the arbitration filed by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd and Leno Adesanya exposed systemic corruption surrounding the 3,960MW project in Taraba State.
The tribunal highlighted a close chronological connection between a $500,000 wire transfer made by Adesanya to the US bank account of Abubakar’s then-wife, Jennifer Douglas, and the controversial award of the Build-Operate-Transfer contract in 2003.
The campaign council asserted that the backdoor arrangement occurred despite strong objections from then-President Olusegun Obasanjo during Federal Executive Council meetings. The tribunal’s findings noted that the timing, concealment efforts, and subsequent support from Abubakar demonstrated that the funds constituted a compromise of national interest for personal gain.
The APC contrasted Abubakar’s absence from the Paris evidentiary hearings with the direct defense mounted by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari to protect the country from massive financial liabilities.
Highlighting prior criticisms from Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch, the campaign argued that the revelations confirm deep-seated issues regarding judgment and integrity.