#AtikuGate: PDP Says Atiku's Ex-Aide Sponsored By Tinubu

A spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Dino Melaye has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of sponsoring an individual Michael Achimugu to blackmail Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP.

Melaye disclosed this while speaking on Channels TV on Monday.

Achimugu, who claims to be a former aide to Atiku, accused him of using Special Purpose Vehicles to usurp funds when Atiku was Nigeria’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007.

The APC's campaign council subsequently called for the arrest and prosecution of Atiku for alleged money laundering and a breach of the penal and criminal code.

Reacting, Melaye dismissed the allegations against Atiku stating that Achimugu was never an aide to the PDP presidential candidate.

“Mike (Achimugu) is being sponsored by the APC, he is also being sponsored by Bola Ahmed Tinubu which is why they need to follow up on the project they started in Mike. Mike is not a media aide of Atiku Abubakar,” Melaye said.

“The letters he brought online which Festus (Keyamo) is referring to are letters from support groups. It does not have the mandate of Atiku Abubakar, it is not from our campaign council and those letters were written by people that have no close ties with Atiku Abubakar.”

The PDP presidential campaign spokesperson accused the APC of orchestrating “lies from the pit of hell” having realised that Atiku is a “leading presidential candidate” for the upcoming presidential election.

According to Melaye, Atiku remains the most investigated Nigerian as of today but has never been indicted or tried for corruption by any court in the country.

Furthermore, Melaye labelled Achimugu as a blackmailer and stated that neither he nor anyone from the PDP Presidential Campaign Council would be commenting on the issue further as they intend to focus on more important issues concerning the upcoming election.