•Gives EFCC, ICPC, CCB 72-hour ultimatum to prosecute ex-VP
•Atiku not afraid of investigation, says Melaye
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for the arrest and prosecution of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar over the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) saga.
It also called on the former vice president to immediately withdraw from the presidential race.
But the spokesperson and Director of Public Affairs, Presidential Campaign Management Committee of the PDP, Dino Melaye said Atiku is not afraid of being investigated.
The ruling party also gave 72 hours ultimatum to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to arrest, interrogate and prosecute Atiku for what it termed; offences against Code of Conduct for Public Officers, Offence of Money Laundering; Offence of criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation; and offence of conspiracy.
The PCC made the call at a joint press conference organised by the Media Directorates of Tinubu/Shettima PCC yesterday in Abuja .
The call for the arrest and prosecution of Atiku followed the revelation by a whistleblower, Mr. Michael Achimugu made against both the former vice president and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
While addressing journalists, one of the spokesperson of the PCC, Festus Keyamo, said the whistleblower gave voice notes and all other supporting documents showing the infractions of the law Atiku allegedly committed.
He explained that Atiku committed offences against the Code of Conduct for Public Officers under Sections 5,20,13 and 17.
Keyamo noted that the ruling party understood that the law enforcement agencies might be reluctant to act simply because of the perception of persecution of a presidential candidate that this might evoke, but insisted that Atiku no longer enjoys immunity.
Keyamo recalled that in 2016, in the middle of campaigns for the office of the presidency of the United States, the FBI opened investigation into allegations of misuse of private emails against Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State.
He said the case was referred to the Justice Department for likely prosecution a few weeks to actual voting, saying though she was later cleared, it bears restating that a sane and dispassionate system never allowed such side talks to dissuade or distract them from initiating a process of investigation.
According to him, it is the minimum expected in a constitutional democracy. That is what we call on the authorities to do in the case of Atiku.
Against this background, the ruling party called on all the security agencies to recover all monies withdrawn from that account by anyone for that matter.
Keyamo insisted that Atiku must apologise and renounce his ambition.
The ruling party also called on all well-meaning Nigerians and the law-enforcement agencies to protect Achimugu, who has blown this whistle on Atiku, saying no harm must befall him or members of his family.
Keyamo said APC was disillusioned but not surprised at the conspiratorial silence of a section of the media over this grave issue of national importance, even after seeing court processes in the form of a sworn affidavit.
Keyamo, who is also the Minister of State, Employment has also petitioned the EFCC, ICPC and CCB as a concerned Nigerian, asking the anti-graft bodies to take action against Atiku within 72 hours.
In the petition made available to our reporter, Keyamo said he expected the agencies to act on the matter within 72 hours of the receipt of the petition.
Meanwhile, Melaye has said Atiku is not afraid of being investigated.
Melaye stated this while speaking during a live television programme last night, said Atiku remains the most investigated Nigerian, who has always submitted himself for investigation several times in the country.
He said: “Atiku Abubakar is a democrat, he’s a Nigerian. He has always been available for investigation. He has been investigated time and time again and come out very clean with clean status.
“So, you do not need the permission of Atiku to investigate him. We are not afraid of an investigation, because he’s the most investigated Nigerian and if you investigate him again he will come out clean,” he added.
The PDP spokesperson, however, insisted that Tinubu is the person, who is expected to be investigated and prosecuted.
“He is the one that has been indicted already in a certified court indictment. He is the man that has faced the Code of Conduct before,” he said.
