Houston TX - Former Vice President during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, may soon be indicted over the bribery scandal involving the American oil service company, Wilbros Group to secure contracts for the eastern gas gathering system (EGGS) in Nigeria. According to court papers from the US Southern District Court of Texas - Houston TX, and made available to the Nigerian high powered delegation led by the controversial Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), Vice President Atiku was shown to have benefited up to the tune of $250, 000 USD (N30million) from the company.

If the allegation is found true, then Atiku should forget about presidential ambitions he may have. However, Nigeria being a “special” nation, where any convicted felon, can hold any office, one will not be surprised if the man is not prosecuted to the “full” extent of the law. In actual fact, I see this as a bargaining chip for current President Yar’Adua to convince Atiku to drop all law suit at the election tribunal.

In a related development, a former Minister of Communication - Maj-Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd), who was named in the Siemens AG bribery scandal, has disclosed that the bribe from Siemens was used to settle the medical bills of his sick brother in Germany. What is shameful about this story is that the rtd General does not seem to find anything wrong with accepting the bribe. According to him, “the action of the company [Siemens] should be seen as an act of benevolence, which ought to be commended because of the precarious health of his brother at that time.”

It will be a shame on Yar’Adua if he does not allow “Due Process” to take place in these cases! The ICPC and EFCC should be allowed to perform their constitutional duties, while the AGF should hand-off the cases because of his controversial stance on issues of corruption. Time will tell….

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