NIGERIAN senators have accused Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who wants to run for president in elections in April, of diverting $US145 million ($183.02 million) of public funds towards private companies, a Senate report showed overnight. The report backs up some of the accusations made against Mr Abubakar by the anti-corruption squad last September, which have been used by President Olusegun Obasanjo to try to disqualify his estranged deputy from the race to succeed him.A spokesman for the Action Congress, Mr Abubakar's party, denied the accusation and said no money was missing from the accounts of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), which used to be under the vice president's supervision. Mr Obasanjo and Mr Abubakar have accused each other of using the PTDF as a slush fund in a vitriolic row that has raged since September and spawned a raft of lawsuits. The Senate report criticised both men but was more scathing about Mr Abubakar.
The report is the latest twist in a convoluted political and legal battle between Mr Obasanjo and Mr Abubakar and it is unlikely to clarify the situation. The president is doing everything he can to exclude the vice president from April's elections and it remains unclear whether Mr Abubakar will be able to participate. The electoral body has not made any clear pronouncements about the issue and several of the lawsuits are pending.