• EFCC receives fresh petition on Atiku over 2006 Corruption Report
• Keyamo slams ex-VP over Nigeria Airways collapse
Vice President Kashim Shettima, yesterday, took veiled but pointed swipes at opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, questioning their economic prescriptions, political consistency and claims about the 2023 presidential election.

This was as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) received a fresh petition seeking the prosecution of Atiku over allegations of financial misconduct dating back to 2006.

Also, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, accused Atiku of hypocrisy over his comments on the state of the nation, citing the liquidation of Nigeria Airways and the unpaid entitlements of its former workers.

Speaking at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in Abuja, Shettima criticised the opposition’s “ideological inconsistencies and reliance on economic statistics” that, in his view, failed to account for Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances.

Without presenting the opposition as a single ideological bloc, the Vice President directed separate criticisms at Atiku’s advocacy of production subsidies and Obi’s use of international comparisons to support his economic arguments.

He also made a pointed reference to Atiku’s educational background, recalling his training at the Kano School of Hygiene, in remarks that appeared intended to challenge the former Vice President’s economic credentials.

Shettima said the contest for the presidency required more than political ambition, insisting that aspirants must demonstrate intellectual maturity, policy understanding and responsibility commensurate with the office they seek.

In one of his most direct criticisms of the opposition, Shettima questioned Atiku’s advocacy of production subsidies, arguing that the proposal raised fundamental questions about public spending and competing economic priorities.

He portrayed the former Vice President’s position as a departure from the capitalist orientation associated with his political career.

THE petition to the EFCC, marked CR:3000/EFCC/HQ/SDC-2/VOL.3/398, a former member of the House of Representatives, Ehiozuwa Agbonayinma, urged the anti-graft agency to revisit its earlier investigation into the allegations and consider a subsequent report by a United States Senate subcommittee.

Agbonayinma said the EFCC acknowledged his petition, dated August 27, 2026, which the commission received on September 1.

The petition, filed through his lawyer, Hannibal Uwaifo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), seeks a review of the EFCC’s September 2006 report on Atiku and a February 4, 2010, report by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

As part of the process, the former lawmaker appeared at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, where he formally adopted the petition and responded to questions from investigators.

Speaking after the engagement, Agbonayinma said the allegations should not remain unresolved, arguing that the anti-graft agency should act on the findings of its earlier investigation.

The EFCC had yet to issue an official response regarding the status of the investigation at the time of filing this report.

KEYAMO, in a post shared on his X handle yesterday, stated that the administration in which Atiku served as VP liquidated the national carrier in September 2004, leaving thousands of workers jobless and without their pensions and gratuities.

Your Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, this is hypocrisy at its peak! Let me just talk only about the sector that I head, Aviation,” the minister wrote.

The minister claimed that the former workers were left to struggle for their entitlements, which he said amounted to billions of naira.

He said President Bola Tinubu had released N36 billion to settle outstanding payments owed to the former Nigeria Airways workers, adding that beneficiaries had started receiving payment alerts.

“Twenty-two years later, after many of them had died out of frustration, President Tinubu is now clearing the mess you left behind,” he stated.