Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the Federal Government to investigate and prosecute him if it has evidence linking him to the alleged $16bn power expenditure while in office.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African DemocraticCongress, accused the President Bola Tinubu-led government of recycling old allegations to divert attention from questions over the use of revenues saved from petrol subsidy removal.
Atiku, in a statement on Wednesday, issued by his SeniorSpecial Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the resurfacing of allegations surrounding power-sector projects, privatisation and public assets was an attempt to shift public attention from the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.
The Olusegun Obasanjo administration’s power sector spending and commitments, commonly cited at about $16bn, became the subject of a House of Representatives probe after his exit from office in 2007.
In 2008, the Umaru Yar’Adua administration raised questions about expenditure on the power sector, with the allegation initially reported as about $11bn, before the figure became commonly cited as $16bn.
