- APC chieftain Timi Frank accused former President Obasanjo of repeatedly attacking Atiku Abubakar ahead of every election cycle
- Frank challenged Obasanjo to take responsibility for controversial decisions made during his own 1999–2007 administration
- The APC chieftain warned Obasanjo that his political backing had never translated into electoral victory, even in his home state of Ogun
Comrade Timi Frank, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has publicly rebuked former President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing him of turning former Vice President Atiku Abubakar into a convenient political target each time an election season approaches.
Recall that Obasanjo had publicly declared that choosing Atiku Abubakar as his vice presidential running mate in 1999 was the single greatest error of his political career.
Source: Twitter
Obasanjo made the remark on Friday, July 31, in Lagos during a fireside chat with musician and activist Charly Boy, at an event organised to unveil Charly Boy’s foundation and his memoir, “999: A Memoir in Tribute to Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.”
Frank who also serves as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, in a statement sighted by Legit.ng on Saturday, August 1 directed at the former President, described the pattern as an “outdated blackmail pattern” that Nigerians had grown tired of.
Frank takes aim at Obasanjo’s r
According to Frank, Obasanjo held all executive authority during his tenure from 1999 to 2007 and therefore cannot credibly deflect responsibility for that administration’s record onto his former deputy.
“If it is true that Atiku committed all of these things you have constantly accused him of, then we can conclude that you were a full accomplice as you presided over as President, because all the approving powers rested solely within your purview,” Frank said.
He also challenged Obasanjo to publicly account for military operations carried out under his watch in Odi, Bayelsa State, and Zaki Biam, Benue State, describing it as hypocritical for the former President to interrogate Atiku’s record while leaving his own unexamined.
Frank argued that Atiku was actually instrumental in recruiting the technocrats and professionals who delivered several key achievements credited to the Obasanjo administration, and that the former President had benefited from his deputy’s work before turning on him.
Frank dismisses Obasanjo’s political influence
Frank was equally blunt about what he sees as Obasanjo’s overstated political relevance, arguing that candidates he has backed have consistently lost at the polls.
“Your political value is whitewash and a ruse because any candidate you support has always been defeated at the polls, even in your state of Ogun,” Frank said.
He also accused Obasanjo of directing little comparable criticism at the current administration while singling out Atiku, adding:
“Atiku isn’t the problem of Nigeria right now and we dare you to criticize the current government like the way you cry about Atiku.”
Frank described Atiku’s silence in the face of the attacks as a sign of maturity, but warned that the former vice president was capable of publicly disclosing damaging information about his former boss if he chose to respond.
He urged Obasanjo to conduct himself as an elder statesman, pointing to former military leaders including Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Yakubu Gowon as examples of restraint worth emulating.
“It is now a home movie series where you remember Atiku every four years for the single fact of smearing and gaslighting your ex-VP whenever an election cycle is near,” Frank said.
He closed by urging Obasanjo to openly campaign for any candidate he supports ahead of the 2027 elections rather than working to undermine Atiku.
Atiku blasts Obasanjo
Previously, Legit.ng reported that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar publicly rejected allegations made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he paid a bribe to the late House of Representatives Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba, to push an impeachment agenda against him.
In a statement cited by Legit.ng and released on July 24, by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the claims as reckless and said they dishonoured the memory of a man who can no longer speak for himself.
Source: Legit.ng