The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to take up the challenge of clearing the name of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, his former principal, if he was sure Obasanjo Farms had paid all its taxes as at when due.
BMO threw the challenge in a statement signed, yesterday, by its chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and secretary, Cassidy Madueke, after claims by the presidential candidate of the PDP that the Buhari administration made the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to include Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Ltd. (OFN) in the list of over 19,000 firms that defaulted in tax payment.
The group, which challenged Atiku to prove that the FIRS made false accusation of tax default against a company owned by former President Obasanjo, said it was concerned that the former VP was making spurious claims against national institutions for political reasons.
It advised Atiku to accept his electoral loss in good faith and allow government institutions to do their jobs.
“Is it not surprising that a statement that was couched as a response to a media report on a visit by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Obasanjo Library, as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering by Atiku’s associates, could be used to cast aspersions on the FIRS?
“The unspoken message from the former vice president is that it was wrong for the EFCC and FIRS to beam their searchlight on his former principal regardless of what he may have done. Aside from the subtle message, Atiku was also emphatic in accusing the president of unleashing the two agencies against the former president.
“What he is doing is tantamount to putting up a defence for fraud and criminality, and trashing the reputation of some of the agencies he once boasted to have played a prominent role in their establishment,” the Buhari group said.
