BREAKING: We’ll grill Atiku over Bank PHB when he returns from US, says FG

The federal government has accused Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of contributing to the collapse of former Bank PHB, vowing to grill him when he returns from the US.

Speaking with state house correspondents on Friday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said there is evidence that Atiku benefitted from slush funds that led to the collapse of Bank PHB.

Mohammed said the government has in its possession paper trail which linked the presidential candidate to one Claremont Management Services account through which N156 million was credited to him in 2009, a development that culminated in the “grounding of the bank”.

“It started from an internal memo dated 13 January 2009 asking that a draft in favour of Atiku Abubakar of N156 million should be raised,” he said.

The minister said the government has proof of the account mandate, cheque and account statement showing Atiku as the signatory to the account that received the money.

“We want him to stay in the US for as long as he wants but he has to explain to Nigerians when he returns,” he said.

Taunting Atiku, Mohammed said even if the PDP presidential candidate obtained a US green card, that would not stop his loss in next month’s election.

“We are not perturbed one bit. He can go ahead and get a US green card. That will not save him from imminent defeat in the forthcoming election,” he said.

“Electionz will be held here in Nigeria, not in the US.”