ABUJA – Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Presidency of avoiding accountability by responding to his concerns with personal attacks instead of addressing questions surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s past.
In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Presidency’s latest response failed to address the core issues that have continued to attract public attention.
According to him, the government’s resort to insults rather than facts suggests it has “run out of convincing answers.”
“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 read.
Atiku maintained that raising questions based on publicly available records should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigeria’s sovereignty.
He argued that the issues being raised concern documents already in the public domain relating to the occupant of the nation’s highest office, stressing that such records were not created by the opposition or any political group.
The former Vice President also faulted the Presidency for revisiting old political allegations against him rather than providing direct responses to the concerns he raised.
He said Nigerians could distinguish between political attacks and factual explanations, insisting that transparency, not personal attacks, is what the public expects from government.
Atiku further described as contradictory what he called the administration’s stance on international scrutiny, noting that a government seeking foreign investment, international loans and global recognition should not condemn external attention when it becomes uncomfortable.
“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,” he stated.
He also rejected the argument that President Tinubu’s electoral victory automatically settles questions relating to public accountability.
According to him, while elections confer political authority, they do not remove the obligation of public officials to answer legitimate questions from citizens.
Atiku urged the Presidency to adopt a more transparent approach by presenting verifiable facts instead of engaging in what he described as inflammatory rhetoric.
“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,” he said.
The former Vice President insisted that Nigerians deserve clear answers on whether President Tinubu forfeited funds to the United States government over alleged drug-related offences, arguing that transparency remains essential to democratic governance.
“The Nigerian people deserve answers, not insults. They want to know if their President forfeited money to the Government of the United States of America on account of drug-related offenses. They deserve transparency, not diversion. Until those questions are addressed with facts, no amount of outrage or personal attacks will silence legitimate public inquiry,” Atiku said.
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