The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has said that his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar cannot explain his source of wealth.
Tinubu was addressing North-West Muslim leaders in Kano on Tuesday when he took time off to bomb his opponent in the PDP.
The former Lagos State governor said Abubakar’s explanation of how he became wealthy was inconsistent with the rules that guided the Civil Service, where he worked before retiring.
In a trending video of the event, Tinubu said: “They asked one of them, “How did you get rich?”. He said he was doing transportation and motor vehicle business. He had forgotten that civil service (sic), you cannot do any other thing if you are a custom officer but farm. Who is lying to who? Who is contradicting who?”
It was clear the reference was to Abubakar Atiku, who worked in the Nigeria Customs Service for 20 years until he retired in 1989 as a deputy director to join politics.
In a recent interview he granted Arise TV, Abubakar said: “The fact that you are a public officer does not stop you from engaging in business.
“I was telling somebody in the first day I resumed duty at Idiroko Border Station, I was not even married, what I realised was that one of the most lucrative businesses then was buying a Peugeot 404, putting bench (wooden chairs) at the back and conveying passengers between Lagos and Cotonu or Ajase, Port Novo.
“As a young officer, I worked in Apapa.
“I signed for hire purchase and I bought about five of them and distributed them.
“They were to ferry passengers between Lagos and Cotonou.
“And I was making my money.
“So, I have been doing business from day one as a public officer.
“Because you are a public officer does not stop you from engaging in business.”
