A Final Message to Waziri Atiku Abubakar

I got a WhatsApp message from Waziri Atiku Abubakar on Sunday afternoon. It was in response to my open letter to him that I published earlier that day. The letter was titled ‘AND NOW YOU CALL HIM BOLA.’ I also shared another article the Sunday before called ‘THE 7TH BID OF WAZIRI.’

For the record, he wrote:
“PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE FEMI. YOU SIMPLY DON’T HAVE THE CREDIBILITY TO CRITICISE ME.”

My reply to him included:
“IF I AM NOT CREDIBLE ENOUGH TO EXPOSE YOU THEN WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU ARE CREDIBLE ENOUGH TO EXPOSE OR DISRESPECT OBJ, GEJ, BAT OR KS? IF I DO NOT HAVE THE CREDIBILITY TO CRITICISE YOU OR THE RIGHT TO DO SO, WHO DOES? IF I AM NOT CREDIBLE WITH ALL I HAVE EXPERIENCED, SEEN AND BEEN THROUGH IN POLITICS OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS AND THE EVIL I HAVE SURVIVED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS THEN WHO IS? CERTAINLY NOT YOU OR AMAECHI SIR.”

That is where our conversation ended.

Waziri, I am sorry, but because of this and the disrespectful words you used against President Tinubu in your press conference yesterday, I agree with my friend Festus Keyamo SAN, the Honorable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace. He said, “Atiku actually needs mental health support at this critical time as he peters out into political oblivion.”

Because of recent events, I feel the need to write to you again. I say this because I was told that on Sunday afternoon, at the same time you sent me your message, your follower, who looks sickly and seems much older than his age, wrote an article to reply to my open letter to you.

I was reliably told that among other things in his “response,” he claimed my supposedly “estranged” ex-wife, who is still very close to me, said many bad things about me in the past. I have denied all those claims, even though we are at peace now and have moved on.

The disconnected nonsense and rubbish your supporter wrote, which only my press secretary read, is beneath my dignity to reply to. To me, it is like water off a duck’s back.
Lions do not respond to dogs, especially when that dog only has three legs and no tail.

In simple terms, I do not care about what your hired help writes. I would rather focus on you directly. If you do not have the strength to respond to me publicly, as you have done privately, at least send your more capable team member. Your chief supporter is more qualified for this task than the unlettered person you sent.

That chief supporter also brought up my ex-wife a few months ago during an argument I had with him on X about President Tinubu. He insisted on dragging my family into the discussion.

Sadly, it does not stop there. Another one of your supporters, a former Senator with a bald head and silver beard, who sometimes wears a skirt, attacked the families of his opponents during political discussions. He once threatened to “beat and impregnate” Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the First Lady, right on the Senate floor and insulted President Tinubu’s entire family on TV just months ago.

In fairness, while he admitted to threatening to “beat” Senator Tinubu, he denied the “impregnate” part. He also shamelessly mocked the President’s age and health during the 2023 presidential campaign by singing hurtful songs at rallies.

My question is: do you encourage these troubled people around you to behave like this, or are they just naturally rude? Whatever it is, I hold you responsible for not controlling them.

I must ask, is this the best your media team can do? Is this what they want to write about, what wives and ex-wives say about their husbands? Shouldn’t they stick to soft-sell magazines?

Where were these rascals when you and I sat in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Federal Executive Council 20 years ago? Since they chose this path, I pity you because what your ex-wife has said about you is now fair game. Your family matters and the misfortunes of your aides during your presidential runs are also fair game.

If you want to go down this path, we can do it together. Your aides forget I am not the one on the ballot; you are. There was a time when family members were off-limits in political discussions, but not anymore. Sadly, your team has lowered the bar, and your camp will regret it.

Now, I feel the need to revisit the records and discuss what your estranged ex-wife, Jennifer Douglas, said about you. I will talk about what she did to you, what you did to her, and what she allegedly did for you in the Leno Adesanya Mambilla Power Plant scandal.

For example, the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (2010) documented over $40 million USD in suspicious transfers involving your then-wife Jennifer Douglas. What do you have to say about this?

That is a real report, even though it did not end in an indictment or criminal conviction against you because you had left America by then. Whatever she said about me, my ex-wife did not throw my belongings into the streets from my Dubai home. She did not keep everything, including the furniture, cars, washing machine, kitchen utensils, and the house itself, for herself.

She also did not complain about the company I kept with men. There are also the words of Fati Muhammed, a Kannywood actress and former associate who claimed she was close to you. Just a few days ago, she said:
“I have been supporting Atiku in politics since 2007 and what has kept me away from him is his lies and broken promises.”

I wonder what you did to her to earn such ‘praise.’ I guess we will find out soon.

Besides that, we will also discuss what you did as a Customs officer at airports and seaports. You allowed 51 suitcases filled with who knows what to be smuggled through Lagos Airport. We will also look into your connection with an Italian national named Gabriele Volpi and his son Matteo.

I will mention your ties with NICOTES, which became Intels, and how a Customs officer like you suddenly became a large shareholder in a multi-billion dollar corporation while still working in Customs.
Again, what you did when you were Vice President from 1999 to 2007 led to an extensive FBI investigation. President Obasanjo expressed his regret about choosing you as his running mate, calling you “very corrupt.”

Your connection with Congressman William J. Jefferson, who was sentenced to 13 years in 2009 after the FBI found $90,000 cash in his freezer, is also relevant. Allegedly, he was planning to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official with $500,000. It has been said that the official was you, but this is yet to be proven. You were not indicted or convicted, so I cannot confirm it as a fact.

But it deserves attention and we will look into this matter further. The easiest way for you to clear the rumors about asking for a bribe is to go to America and report to the FBI. If you have nothing to hide, I suggest you do this quickly so we can clear the air.

Then there is the unresolved allegation of the ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ (SPV). This was a corporate vehicle you allegedly told your former media aide, Mr. Michael Achimugu, you created to avoid “open corruption.” Achimugu released an audio tape claiming you confessed to a conspiracy to commit theft. You claimed that the voice was not yours, and I cannot confirm or deny that either.

However, this could lead to a full criminal investigation and possible prosecution. Instead of taking this seriously, you continue to run for the presidency while claiming others lack credibility to criticize you. What a nerve!

The reality is that claiming anyone lacks the credibility to criticize you when you have so many questions to answer is simply foolish. Let me add that there are things you did years ago in the 1980s and 1990s that are questionable.

We will investigate all these issues so we can determine who has credibility and who does not. As a starting point, please tell us why you allegedly cannot go to America freely without your associates helping you get a “special package visa” like they did in 2019.

If this is true, it raises concerns. These matters need to be examined because you want to be our President. You talk about credibility, but I am not the one who betrayed my boss and privatized Nigeria!

You did that, and if given the chance, you would do it again. The truth is you do not match me in terms of pedigree, credibility, education, upbringing, or lineage. The only thing you have is money. Though your wealth may buy houses, cars, gold bars, private jets, political parties, and the admiration of your supporters, it cannot buy CLASS or CHARACTER. It cannot change the fate of men.