By Emmanuel Aziken

Fresh details have emerged on why former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is deeply concerned over a strange payment made into his personal bank account, with fears that the transaction could be part of an attempt to associate him with individuals or activities unknown to him.

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Saturday Vanguard gathered that beyond the unsolicited payment itself, concerns have arisen over the identity and possible motives of the sender, particularly against the backdrop of the description attached to the transaction: “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.”

Atiku, through his spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, had raised the alarm after discovering the payment, insisting that neither the former Vice President nor his political organisation solicited or authorised it.

“Neither His Excellency nor his campaign solicited, authorised or has any knowledge of the individual or entity behind the unauthorised payment,” Shaibu said in a statement.

However, Saturday Vanguard gathered that one of the major concerns surrounding the transaction is the possibility that unsolicited funds could be used to create a financial trail linking the former Vice President to persons or activities with which he has no connection.

There are fears within Atiku’s camp that unexplained payments could potentially expose the recipient to questions over links to terrorism financing, drug trafficking, fraud or other criminal activities, particularly where the true source and purpose of the funds remain unknown.

There is, however, no evidence presently available to Saturday Vanguard that the money originated from any terrorist, drug trafficking or other criminal organisation. The concern is over the potential implications of receiving unexplained funds and the possibility that such transactions could subsequently be used to create damaging associations.

How Did Sender Get Atiku’s Account Details?

Another source of worry is how the sender obtained Atiku’s personal banking details in the first place.

According to the earlier statement by Shaibu, the account into which the money was paid is strictly personal and its details are not publicly available.

“The account is a strictly private one whose details are not in the public domain. This raises a fundamental question: How did unknown persons obtain the confidential banking details of a private citizen?” the statement said.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that there are concerns that the account information, which may ordinarily be accessible to the bank and relevant financial regulatory institutions in the course of their statutory responsibilities, could have been improperly disclosed.

Atiku’s camp has consequently raised questions over whether somebody with privileged access to sensitive financial information may have been responsible for exposing the details.

“Even more disturbing is the suspicion that such confidential information may have been obtained through persons with privileged access,” the statement said.

Bank Launches Investigation

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the bank involved, one of Nigeria’s top five banks, has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the transaction.

The bank was expected to revert to Atiku with its findings at the weekend as efforts continued to establish how the transaction occurred and, crucially, whether it could help identify its origin.

Further checks by Saturday Vanguard indicated that the money was transferred from an OPay account, potentially adding another layer to efforts to establish the identity behind the payment.

While transactions conducted through regulated financial platforms ordinarily leave records that may assist investigations, Atiku’s concern remains that the person immediately associated with the transfer may not necessarily reveal who ultimately initiated or motivated it.

Wider Security Concerns

The former Vice President believes the implications extend beyond his personal circumstances.

“If the private banking information of a former Vice President and a leading presidential candidate can be accessed and deployed for reasons yet unknown then no Nigerian’s financial privacy is safe,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Atiku also warned that unauthorised access to confidential financial information could create potentially serious security vulnerabilities for ordinary Nigerians.

“If established, this would amount to a grave abuse of power capable of exposing the account holder to kidnappers, terrorists, bandits, fraudsters and other criminal elements,” the statement added.

For Atiku, therefore, the mystery is not simply about money unexpectedly appearing in his account.

The questions are who sent it, why it was labelled an electioneering campaign contribution, how the sender obtained details of a private account and what purpose the transaction was intended to serve. Those questions have assumed greater significance given Atiku’s status as a former Vice President and prominent opposition politician ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to his spokesman, the matter has already been brought to the attention of security agencies and the Nigerian public.

His camp views the development as one of a number of suspicious incidents in the political environment ahead of 2027 and wants the source of the payment, as well as how the sender obtained the account details, conclusively established.

Until those questions are answered, the strange deposit is being treated not as a windfall but as a potential security and political red flag.

By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA

Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said he has no regret over stopping Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George, from becoming the party’s National Chairman, describing him as a failed politician who has not won any election for the PDP in Lagos State since 1999.

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In a statement on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister said Chief George’s political frustration has further been compounded by the emergence of Deji Doherty, a personality he does not want to see in charge of the party in Lagos State.

“His anger is because we didn’t allow him to be PDP National Chairman and no regret doing so,” Wike said.

He added that George “wanted to be PDP National Chairman, and was carrying on like the position was his birthright. We stopped him because it was the turn of the South-South. Since then, he has not stopped being angry.”

The minister recounted an incident in which he visited George’s residence in Maitama, Abuja, as a sitting governor, to appease him after the national convention. But was nearly turned away by George’s wife until former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, intervened.

Wike described George as a politician who, despite all the privileges and power at his disposal, has failed to deliver electoral victories for the PDP in Lagos State.

“We have managed him even though we know that he has no value. But as it is, since he wants to keep dancing naked in the market place of politics, we can’t but allow him,” he said.

The minister argued that leadership of a political party is not determined by name, title or status as a founding father, but by the ability to win elections. He said on that score, Bode George is “a complete disaster.”

Citing specific electoral figures, Wike said George has never won even his own polling unit, Unit 001 in Ward E2, Evans Street, Lagos Island, for the PDP.

He noted that in the 2019 presidential election, the All Progressives Congress, APC, polled 84 votes at the unit against the PDP’s 40, while in 2023, after George transferred his voter’s card to Eti-Osa, the PDP recorded only four votes at his former polling unit.

Wike said that since Bode George appeared not to be busy, he would continue to make his associates busy by giving them reason to move from one television station to another.

Vanguard News

Dr Daniel Kim has been named as the running mate to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, Chief Kefas Ropshik Kefiano, for the 2027 governorship election.

The State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party in Plateau State unveiled the running mate following the party’s nomination of Chief John Arkson as Chairman of the party’s Elders Council. Chris Hassan is the Director-General of the party’s Campaign Organisation.

Chief Kefiano explained that despite the litigations the party had faced in recent times, the PDP remained a force to be reckoned with in Plateau State politics and Nigeria as a whole.

To ensure that the state’s zoning arrangement was preserved, Chief Kefiano explained that he was running for the governorship with the intention of serving for one term, stressing that the zoning of the governorship among the state’s three senatorial districts was sacrosanct and would be strictly adhered to.

He noted, “Previous attempts to sidestep the arrangement had been rejected by the people of the state, resulting in the loss of the governorship by the party in power.”

He stated that Plateau people are some of the most conscientious people in the country and that they always adhere to zoning regulations, assuring that he would serve for four years in one term to complete the two terms of his senatorial district.

He said that their campaign would be issue-based, lamenting that the government in the state had failed the people.

A member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Hon. Johnbull Shekarau, praised the patience and resilience members of the party had displayed in the course of the struggle for recognition, saying that these had helped the party get to where it is at the moment.

The State Chairman of the party, Hon. Peter Tongshien, explained that the names of all the party’s candidates had been submitted to the National Secretariat of the party and successfully uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal, assuring that the PDP was fully ready in the state to commence its campaign in line with INEC guidelines.