Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed the Presidency’s latest criticism of him, accusing the Tinubu administration of avoiding accountability by resorting to personal attacks instead of addressing questions surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s past.
In a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Presidency failed to provide factual responses to issues that remain in the public domain, arguing that Nigerians deserve transparency rather than political insults.
According to him, the government’s response focused on attacking his personality instead of addressing the concerns he had raised.
“When governments abandon facts for insults and substitute evidence with abuse, they unwittingly admit that they have run out of convincing answers. Nigerians expected clarification. What they received instead was a barrage of name-calling and political invective,” the statement said.
Atiku rejected suggestions that raising questions about President Tinubu’s past amounted to reporting Nigeria to foreign authorities, insisting that the issues relate to publicly available records concerning the country’s leader.
“No one has reported Nigeria to anyone. Nigeria is not on trial. The issue concerns questions arising from publicly available records relating to the occupant of the nation’s highest office,” he stated.
The former vice president also criticised the Presidency for reviving past allegations against him instead of responding directly to the issues he raised, arguing that Nigerians can distinguish between political attacks and factual explanations.
He further described it as contradictory for the government to welcome foreign investment, loans and international support while condemning international scrutiny whenever it becomes politically inconvenient.
“You cannot celebrate international validation when it is convenient and condemn international scrutiny when it becomes uncomfortable. Accountability is not foreign interference; it is a democratic obligation,” Atiku said.
He maintained that electoral victory does not remove the obligation of elected officials to remain accountable to the public.
“Elections confer political authority, but they do not extinguish the public’s right to ask questions. A democratic mandate is not a substitute for transparency,” he added.
Calling on the Tinubu administration to provide evidence instead of engaging in personal attacks, Atiku said that if the government believes publicly available records have been misunderstood, it should address the issues with facts.
“If the government believes that the public record has been misunderstood or misrepresented, the appropriate response is to present the facts. Abuse cannot replace evidence, and propaganda cannot replace truth,” the statement said.
Atiku concluded that Nigerians deserve clear answers regarding longstanding questions about President Tinubu’s 1993 civil forfeiture case in the United States, insisting that transparency remains the appropriate response.
His statement came in response to an earlier release by the Presidency, in which Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, accused Atiku of spending $1.2 million on American lobbyists to petition US President Donald Trump and the US State Department over Tinubu’s past legal matters. The Presidency also revived allegations linking Atiku to the William Jefferson bribery case, referenced a 2010 US Senate report, and defended President Tinubu’s record, arguing that the issues had already been settled politically and legally.
PRESS STATEMENT
PRESIDENTIAL INSULTS CANNOT REPLACE TRANSPARENCY — ATIKU
Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has described the Presidency’s latest statement attacking his person as further proof…
— phrank Shaibu (@phrankangel) July 23, 2026
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