The Democratic Front (TDF) has criticised the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, over his demand that President Bola Tinubu explain a civil forfeiture incident involving him in the United States about three decades ago.
In a statement issued by its Chairman, Danjuma Muhammad, and Secretary, Wale Adedayo, the group urged the former Vice President to instead address allegations surrounding an alleged transfer of $40 million in several tranches into accounts linked to his former wife, Jennifer Douglas.
TDF described Atiku’s demand for explanations from Tinubu over the long-standing US case as an attempt to divert attention from issues it said required clarification ahead of the 2027 elections.
The group said Atiku’s recent comments on fuel subsidy had created the impression that he intended to promote issue-based discourse, but argued that his focus on Tinubu’s past civil forfeiture case suggested otherwise.
According to TDF, the amount of energy and resources being devoted to revisiting the civil forfeiture incident showed that Atiku had little new to offer voters in terms of policies and ideas ahead of the January 2027 elections.
The group further argued that Atiku, as a former public officer, should address what it described as unresolved corruption-related questions concerning his past before making personal integrity a central issue in his campaign.
TDF maintained that Tinubu was not implicated or criminally indicted in connection with the US civil forfeiture case, arguing that the proceedings were civil in nature and concerned the money involved rather than the President as an individual.
The group subsequently turned its attention to allegations surrounding the transfer of about $40 million into US bank accounts linked to Jennifer Douglas, who was Atiku’s wife at the time, between 2000 and 2008.
TDF alleged that the transactions had been the subject of an investigation by a US Senate subcommittee and called on Atiku to provide Nigerians with explanations regarding the circumstances surrounding the transfers.
The group also cited claims attributed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he had prevented an FBI investigation into Atiku because of concerns about its implications for his administration and Nigeria’s image.
TDF said Nigerians were entitled to a detailed explanation of the alleged financial transactions and urged Atiku to address the matter publicly.
“We therefore call on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to come clean on the circumstances surrounding the American Senate sub-committee investigation into the illegal transfer of funds into his wife’s account,” the group said.
“We deem it constitutionally and morally incumbent on the ADC presidential candidate to come to equity with clean hands, before demanding explanations from President Tinubu on a US civil forfeiture incident.”
