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Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has strongly pushed back against allegations by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, focusing on what he described as the unfair invocation of the late Ghali Umar Na’Abba in the controversy.

In a statement issued by his aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the claim that he bribed the former Speaker to impeach Obasanjo as reckless and unjust, stressing that the late lawmaker is no longer alive to respond.

He said, “As Africans, we understand the solemn duty of speaking truthfully about the dead. It is therefore deeply troubling that former President Obasanjo has chosen this moment to allege that I gave the late Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba a bribe to impeach him.

“If this allegation were true, why did he never make it while Rt. Hon. Na’Abba was alive? Why wait until the only man who could confirm or refute the claim has departed this world? By invoking a deceased man as the principal witness to such a grave allegation, former President Obasanjo has denied Nigerians the opportunity to hear the other side of the story.

“The late Rt. Hon. Ghali Na’Abba cannot now defend his own integrity or respond to the allegation that he accepted a bribe. It is unfair to his memory and contrary to our cultural values to conscript the dead into contemporary political battles when they no longer have a voice.”

Atiku further noted that the allegation lacks any judicial backing or official determination.

“If there was indeed evidence of any criminal conduct as alleged, Nigerians are entitled to ask why no action was taken at the time by a government that wielded the full powers of the Nigerian state.”

He also questioned the timing of the claims, linking them to political developments ahead of the 2027 general election.

“Coming at a time when the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general election is taking shape, the obvious objective is to besmirch my person and reputation and confer an undeserved political advantage on the former President’s kinsman. Nigerians, however, know better. They are too discerning to be distracted by stale allegations resurrected for political convenience.”

Reiterating the roots of his long-standing differences with Obasanjo, Atiku said his opposition to the former president’s third-term agenda remains a defining issue.

“My offence was that I stood firmly against the unconstitutional third-term agenda. As a democrat, I chose the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Rather than surrender democratic principles on the altar of personal ambition, I defended the Constitution and successfully asserted my rights through the courts in a series of landmark legal victories against a sitting President. Those battles are now part of Nigeria’s democratic history. It is evident that the bitterness arising from that defining period has failed to leave former President Obasanjo.”

Atiku added that he would not be drawn into prolonged disputes over past political events while the country faces pressing challenges.

“The task before leaders today is not to rewrite history but to rescue the future. Nigerians are more interested in knowing why food prices continue to soar, why public debt continues to rise despite increased revenues, and why scandal after scandal continues to trail the current administration than in revisiting political disagreements from over two decades ago.”

He concluded by stating that while Obasanjo is free to support any candidate, such support should be declared openly.

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The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) welcomes President Bola Tinubu’s creation of four new Army divisions across the country, a statement says.

The statement says the simultaneous creation of four new divisions is the largest single expansion of the Nigerian Army in modern history, adding that the bold step shows the President’s renewed commitment to security of lives and property.

“We wholeheartedly welcome this development, including the president’s approval for the Army to hire 28,000 new personnel and acquire more critical military assets. We are confident that this initiative will enhance the government’s counterterrorism and anti-banditry efforts,” according to the statement.

The Forum pledges its continued support for and collaboration with the President on national security and all other issues of national development.

“The Forum again urges citizens to continue to support government and security forces to strengthen security in every part of the country, including giving timely information to the security agencies,” the statement says.

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The Port Harcourt branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been thrown into crisis following the branch’s election scheduled for Friday.

Most members of the branch stormed the NBA House in Port Harcourt and barricaded its entrance in protest, insisting that the scheduled election must be cancelled as they alleged manipulation of the voters’ list.

In the protest, aggrieved members complained that they were not satisfied with the process, prompting a heavy security deployment around the building.

Armed security personnel from the Department of State Security (DSS) and the police were seen monitoring the development.

One of the candidates for the position of Social Secretary, Chilezie Oluolu, alleged that the Electoral Committee failed to comply with the bye-law of the branch by refusing to publish the register ahead of the election.

The candidate said: “To shock everybody yesterday night around 10:45 pm to 11 pm, they published a final voters’ list. Meanwhile, we have never had any conversation as to the modalities for the election.

“The bye-law says if you’re publishing a final voters’ list, you must give 14 days before the election within which you would have spoken to members, giving them modalities. They would bring their agents to do the final briefing before we would get ready for the election.

“Yet he published it and said elections must hold this morning. And we are saying that that is not what it should be. We are not satisfied.”

The protesters, who appeared in their corporate outfits, were seen shouting and chanting: “Cancel the election now”.

A female lawyer, who spoke in confidence, said three blocs, the Integrity Group, the Progressive Group and the Proactive Group, were dragging the leadership of the NBA, Port Harcourt.

She said the Integrity Group, whose Candidate is John Ogbokiri from Rivers State, had earlier obtained a court order stopping the Electoral Committee nominated by the past leadership from conducting the election.

“They accused the electoral committee of including unqualified persons as voters to manipulate and rig the process. They went to court and obtained an order stopping the election”, she said.

She added that the National NBA was compelled to send a three-man caretaker Committee to conduct the election.

“The committee chose Friday as the date for the election. But at the venue of the poll, the integrity group and the progressive group staged a protest and a walkout saying they were not satisfied with the process because the list of voters was published a night before the election against the NBA bye-law”.

She added: “Though those of us at the Proactive Group wanted the election to go on, it was later postponed. The caretaker Committee promised to meet with the aggrieved parties and choose another date for the election”.

Also, a former Chairman of the NBA, Port Harcourt Branch, Prince Nyekwere, confirmed the development, saying, “They have not given us a new date.”