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ABUJA, Nigeria: A Senate panel ruled Tuesday that Nigeria's vice president improperly diverted ov...Read the full article.

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Waow he don happen! . Atiku's hope of becoming the President at least in the next election will be permanently lost if the Senate accepts this report.

Even if he wins against the earlier indictment constituted by OBJ, this is a fresh indictment, and I can't see how he can conveniently fight against this indictment in a Court of law within the time available before the next elections.


I will like to correct one portion of this report in paragraph 4 that said that Atiku is protected from criminal indictment by the constitution. Atiku is not protected from criminal indictment but criminal prosecution.

Unfortunately for him indictment is all that is required constitutionally to stop him from contesting this election.

He should do the noblest thing to save his image and come back with full force and get the support of many Nigerians by conceeding his AC ticket to Pat Utomi.

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Atiku's well-deserved, long-overdue repercusions and consequences for corruption is finally here? Why did it take so long?

Tonsoyo You are quite right! some of our folks confuse the two concepts (they mix and miss the clear distinction)!

Plus this nugget, if and when a public office holder such as Atiku is indicted and then impeached by the National Assembly, the cloak of immunity is lost and yes, he is game in any criminal proceedings!

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Well, apparently, both of them were indicted.

DW

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The Guardian

Senate indicts Obasanjo, Atiku over PTDF scandal

President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar have been indicted by the Senate ad-hoc committee which investigated the activities of the controversial Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF). The committee, which submitted its report to the Senate on Tuesday, specifically accused President Obasanjo of abuse of office and diversion of PTDF fund to purposes other than those for which the funds were meant. But despite indicting both Obasanjo and Atiku in the management of the funds, the committee failed to recommend any punitive measures for them, referring the aspect to the Senate to decide.

The Senate committee also urged the National Assembly to show more interest in the activities of PTDF by exercising its oversight functions on the funds. The report admitted in evidence the testimony of the VP and this was substantially used by the committee to arrive at its conclusions. The ad-hoc committee led by Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, was set up last year by the Senate in the wake of the verbal brickbats between President Obasanjo and Atiku on the mismanagement of the funds. Investigations into the activities of PTDF last year by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) led to the indictment of Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was accused by the commission of misappropriating the funds.

This led to the setting up of an administrative panel of inquiry by the Presidency, which found Atiku guilty of mismanagement of PTDF. Receiving the report, the Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, thanked the committee and declared that he would personally sign all the pages of the report to prevent forgery. He said the time for rumour and fabrications are over and that the Senate would work only on facts. He assured Senators that they would be given copies of the report and charged them to use the whole of today to study the document to enable them make meaningful contributions in the debate on Wednesday at the plenary session.

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I doubt the veracity of this critical report as well as the style since it does not seem to be APish. Be that as it may, we may be seeing the final chapters of the book titled "How Atiku Fell down from Grace". But what will happen thereafter if any might be the turning point in the Nigeria 07 unfolding drama. BTW is this the quid which the Senate wants to play to enable their members who lost out in the primaries to be quoed? "Different different fever na him deyooo" Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Nigerian Musician, philosopher and Great Man of the Century. :frown: :frown: :frown: :smile: :smile: :biggrin: :biggrin:

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If Atiku is a symbol for anything, it is most probably unsavory. Atiku may indirectly have contributed to an early need to interpret our constitution that does not confer any honors or symbols on him, as Mr. Rule of law etc
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/paul-adujie/atiku-now-irrelevant-sits-in-limbo-as-president-obasanjo-waits-to-ex.html
Atiku: Now Irrelevant, Sits in Limbo! (As President Obasanjo Waits to Exhale)!

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The same report also found Caesar and his cabinet guilty of misappropriating over $20 million from the same PTDF funds but since Caesar is not contesting any elections in 07, Atiku may be the proverbial scape goat that will carry all the PTDF sins into the political wilderness on behalf of 140 million Nigerians will a possibility of being jailed post May 27 07 to boot. "How are the Mighty fallen" A popular verse from the xtian Bible. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

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Folks, we are talking of a senate panel, not the whole senate. Let's not blow it out of proportion.

The whole senate debates the issue tomorrow.

So, let us wait and see!!!!

Who knows, tomorrow, the legislative body may begin their impeachment of both the prez and his vice....

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Folks

AP report is not how the story had been reported in Nigerian Press. The Senate Panel found both Atiku and OBJ indicted of mismanagement of PTDF fund. The News report is as presented by DW. ( see Bleow) AP report is not consistent with facts as presented by Nigerian Press.

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Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

I urge the Nigerian Senate not to make Atiku Abubakar a martyr. This will be accomplished if he is the subject of indictment and prosecution without an equally culpable Obasanjo.

The Nigerian Senate rose to the occasion and for the first time, distinguished itself during the debate and defeat of the third term agenda by consigning the unholy idea to the historical dustbin. The third term debate was the finest hour in the history of the Nigerian legislative chamber. For many Nigerians, the legislative arm of our current experiment has been an unmitigated disaster. You have an opportunity now, Honorable Senators, in addition to the defeat of the third term agenda, to make history, to speak truth to power, to create a precedent to Nigeria of today and for posterity that the rule of law will be dominant and the final arbiter in the conduct and pursuit of our affairs as a nation by indicting both Obasnajo and Atiku, if the evidence so direct.

If the evidence at your disposal points to alleged act of criminality on the part of both officers and you succumb to pressure, intimidation, death threats, and all manners of the “sky is falling” red herring and only refer Atiku Abubakar for prosecution, you would be seen as the worse legislative body in the entire world and would be seen as a bunch of scared puppies, who couldn’t look power in the eye and do justice.

I do not support Atiku Abubukar’s bid for the presidency. I happen to believe that Atiku and Obasanjo are political character-types Nigeria can do very well without. It is not about these two, it is about our nation – the recognition of the rule of law as the final arbiter in the conduct and pursuit of our affairs, the recognition that the rule of law is no respecter of persons regardless of position or rank, the enthronement of a level playing field in Nigerian affairs via the rule of law whereby laws are what they are as written and not some convoluted and jaundiced interpretation designed to assuage the intemperate contemptible bunch, an example to our youth that they live in a country where bad behavior and purveyors of criminality will receive their due under the law. Honorable Senators, the ramifications and consequences of your action in this regard is immeasurable for our nation. It has the potential to fundamentally change the checkered course of our nationhood.

I urge this August body to be open in your deliberations. Let the Nigerian people and the world see democracy and representative government at work not in Washington, D.C., not in London, not in Paris, not in Ottawa but in Abuja Nigeria.

I urge the PDP to remember that Nigeria is bigger than political partisanship. When it became clear that Richard Millhouse Nixon, former president of the United States was guilty of the charge of abuse of office and other similar offenses constituting High Crimes and Misdemeanors, senior Republican party Senators (Nixon’s party) led by former Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona went to the White House to tell Richard Nixon that his time as president was up on the basis of the allegations against him. By this singular act, the Republicans saved the American people the ordeal of an impeachment exercise and the inherent division and acrimony that was bound to occur. Many Nigerians have an opinion of the PDP that is less than laudatory, to say the least. This coming debate presents an opportunity the PDP must grab by the horns to show Nigerians that it believes in democracy, the rule of law and above all, the transformation and progress of a united, forward-looking Nigeria, where no man is above the law.

If Obasanjo and Atiku are equally culpable, eschew partisanship, issues of personality and follow only the evidence and the money in making your conclusions. If you do this, this Nigerian Senate would be seen as a drum major for justice in the annals of Nigerian history.

I wish each of you great Wisdom in abundance.