Atiku Cannot Claim Obasanjo-Era Successes Without Addressing Its Controversies

Atiku Abubakar often points to the economic record of the Obasanjo administration as evidence of what he can deliver. However, that record was the product of several officials and institutions, not one individual. As vice-president, Atiku chaired the National Economic Council and initially supervised the National Council on Privatisation and the Bureau of Public Enterprises. He played an important role in Obasanjo’s first-term government, but he did not lead the Economic Management Team formed in 2003. President Olusegun Obasanjo chaired that team, while Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala led much of its work. Several achievements often linked to that era, including debt relief, banking consolidation and fiscal reforms, came during Obasanjo’s second term, when Atiku’s relationship with the president had deteriorated. It is therefore difficult to credit him alone for an administration shaped by Obasanjo, Okonjo-Iweala, Charles Soludo, Oby Ezekwesili, Nasir El-Rufai and others. The same standard should apply to privatisation. If Atiku claims credit for its successes because he supervised it, he should also address questions about controversial sales, political interference and failed transactions. In the William Jefferson case, Atiku was mentioned but was neither charged nor convicted, and prosecutors said the alleged money was apparently not delivered to him. Atiku played a meaningful role, but he cannot claim the entire administration’s successes while distancing himself from every controversy.

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