Nigerian presidential candidate Atiku denies new corruption allegation – BBC

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LAGOS, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Nigerian opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has said he is ready to disclose his assets if compelled to do so by law and has denied a new allegation of corruption in against him ahead of the February 25 election, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Atiku, who served as vice president from 1999 to 2007, is the People’s Democratic Party’s main opposition candidate and among the top three contenders to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, whose last term ends in May.

The candidate, a 76-year-old businessman, has previously faced corruption allegations, which he denies.

Atiku told the BBC he would disclose his assets if required by law and would “take it in good faith” if he lost the election.

“The law doesn’t say we should make it (the assets) public. But if the law says we have to make it public, I’ll make it public. I don’t mind that,” he said.

A ruling party official filed a petition with the Abuja High Court last week asking him to order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other agencies to arrest and prosecute Atiku for a leak sound.

In the audio, which Reuters has not verified, someone who looks like Atiku describes a plan to divert funds from government projects and conceal that the person received the money.

When asked to comment on the audio, Atiku told the BBC, “That voice didn’t reveal anything new.”

When asked if that was his voice in the audio, he said, “Nothing new.”

“Anything I know, any corrupt practices or allegations of corruption against me have been investigated in this country more than anyone and nothing has been found against me.”

Atiku featured prominently in the corruption trial of former US Representative William Jefferson, who is accused of trying to bribe Atiku to develop a tech company in Nigeria. Jefferson was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. His sentence was later reduced.

Separately, US Senate investigators in 2010 alleged that one of Atiku’s four wives helped him transfer more than $40 million in “suspicious funds” to the United States from offshore front companies.

(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

(([email protected]; Reuters Mail: [email protected]))

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