The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has claimed that he saved former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s life while both men were in prison by leaking information about an alleged plan to administer a potentially fatal injection to him.
Atiku made the disclosure while speaking with journalists amid an escalating war of words with Obasanjo over their political relationship and their respective roles in the former military ruler’s emergence as president in 1999.
The former vice-president alleged that a similar method had been used against the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and said he intervened after learning of a purported plan to administer an injection to Obasanjo.
“I saved Obasanjo’s life in prison by leaking information about an impending injection that could have killed him,” Atiku said.
“They did the same to Yar’Adua, and when I learnt they planned to do it to him, I warned him not to allow the injection. Today, he wants the world to hate me because I opposed his third-term ambition,” he added.
Atiku also rejected Obasanjo’s account of the 1999 presidential election, arguing that the former president lacked significant electoral strength in his home state and the South-West at the time.
“In 1999, he could not even win his own state or the South-West; it was Arewa that made him President. He possesses no electoral value,” Atiku said.
The former vice-president accused Obasanjo of rewriting history and attempting to use their political past for political advantage ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku also defended his contribution to Obasanjo’s political emergence, saying he supported the former president following his release from prison and helped establish the political structure that contributed to their victory in the 1999 presidential election.
The latest comments come amid renewed exchanges between the two former political allies as the 2027 election approaches.
Speaking on his plans for the 2027 election, Atiku also highlighted what he described as his record of creating opportunities for young Nigerians during his tenure as vice-president.
He said some beneficiaries of those opportunities had subsequently risen to become governors, ministers, directors and other public officeholders.
Atiku pledged that, if elected president in 2027, his administration would continue to create opportunities for young Nigerians to participate in governance and assume leadership positions.
The claims regarding the alleged injection have not been independently verified, and no supporting evidence was provided in the remarks cited.
