Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, said yesterday that he was side-lined by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, after he was used to defeat the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2015.
Atiku’s confession came at a time when one of Buhari’s Ministers has vowed never to support Buhari, in 2019.
Atiku made this allegation in an interview aired in the Hausa Service of the Voice of America, VOA.
“Honestly speaking, I am still a member of the APC; I was part of all the processes, including campaigns, until success was achieved.
“But sadly, soon after the formation of a government; I was side-lined, I have no any relationship with the government, I have not been contacted even once to comment on anything and in turn, I maintained my distance. They used our money and influence to get to where they are, but three years down the lane, this is where we are”, Atiku said.
On boko haram he said: “Yes, there were successes, but not a comprehensive success, because the boko haram miscreants are still very active, killing our people, and many Local Government Councils in Borno and Yobe, are under their firm grip. People cannot dare go back to their dwellings.
“This thing baffles me; I never imagined that Nigeria will fight a protracted battle with boko haram for five years. At a time, we fought the Biafra war, which was more complicated, because of the terrain in the South, but the Biafran Soldiers were roundly subdued in 30 months. But here we are, fighting an endless battle with the boko haram, and there is no end in sight”, he said.
On corruption, Atiku said that very little was achieved in that respect. “How many people were arrested, prosecuted, and jailed? How much was recovered from the looters?” he asked.
“When we came on board in 1999, I remember we recovered between $4.5 and $4.7 billion, from those that looted under (late Sani) Abacha.
