Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has taken aim at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing him of inconsistency and misrepresenting facts in recent political exchanges.
In a statement issued through his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku reacted to comments credited to the president concerning his credentials and past role in managing the nation’s economy.
“Atiku Abubakar’s attention has been drawn to the latest reckless tirade by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—a performance that exposes not just desperation, but a troubling pattern of hypocrisy and historical amnesia,” the statement read.
The former vice president expressed surprise that Tinubu, who has faced repeated scrutiny over his own academic background, would attempt to question others with what he described as verifiable public records.
The statement also revisited the issue of privatization policies in Nigeria. Atiku’s camp argued that Tinubu’s criticism lacks merit. It noted that the president had opposed similar reforms in the past. It added that the current administration now oversees a system that has effectively commercialized the Nigerian National Petroleum Company without sufficient transparency.
“This is not reform; it is privatization without accountability,” Atiku stated.
The statement further intensified the criticism of Tinubu’s educational history.
“It is not our fault that the president does not and cannot read, because Bola Tinubu has a history of attending a school in Lagos two years before it was founded, upon which he claimed his Chicago State University degree.
“If he were properly educated, he would have acquainted himself with the privatization records in the presidency or the painstaking account of these reforms as captured by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai in The Accidental Public Servant, where the privatization programme was clearly documented as a bold and structured effort to dismantle inefficiency and drive private sector-led growth.”
Atiku’s camp maintained that Tinubu’s remarks ignored publicly available records and credible documentation of past reforms.
“You cannot oppose reform when it demands courage and then execute a shadow version of it in power,” the statement added.
The exchange marks another round of political confrontation between both figures as discussions around the 2027 elections continue to gather pace.
