Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of waging a more than two-decade campaign of “lies, political manipulation and orchestrated deceit” against him.

Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, made the accusation on Sunday while responding to a recent claim by Obasanjo that Atiku had mobilised the late Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, to remove him from office during their administration from 1999 to 2007.

Ibe described the allegation as part of a recurring pattern in which Obasanjo allegedly revives claims against Atiku around election periods. He said it was particularly problematic because Na’Abba, who died in 2023, could no longer respond.

To challenge Obasanjo’s account, Ibe cited former lawmaker Abubakar Bwari, who served as Chief Whip during the period. According to Bwari, Na’Abba never sought Obasanjo’s removal, while Atiku acted as an emissary to lawmakers on behalf of the former president.

Ibe also cited former Abia State governor Orji Uzor Kalu, who reportedly said Atiku had sought the support of PDP governors for Obasanjo’s re-election in 2003. Kalu said Atiku declined to betray Obasanjo despite having been in a position to pursue his own presidential ambition.

The statement further revisited the controversy surrounding the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) shortly before the 2007 election. Atiku had denied wrongdoing and argued that the allegations were politically motivated, particularly because of his opposition to Obasanjo’s bid for a third term.

Ibe also relied on accounts in the autobiography of the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, to question aspects of the PTDF investigation and the treatment of businessman Mike Adenuga during the period.

Atiku and Obasanjo were political allies during the 1999 and 2003 elections, but their relationship deteriorated over political succession, corruption allegations and Obasanjo’s third-term bid. Atiku subsequently left the PDP and contested the 2007 presidential election on the Action Congress platform.

Atiku is now the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

Obasanjo has not publicly responded to Atiku’s latest allegations. His media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, declined to comment when contacted.