The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday accused the Presidency of resorting to personal attacks instead of addressing questions of public accountability, saying insults could not replace transparency.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said this in a statement issued on Thursday while reacting to the Presidency's response to his recent comments on President Bola Tinubu.
The former Vice President alleged that rather than respond to issues of public concern, the Presidency devoted its attention to attacking his personality.
According to him, governments that abandon facts for insults and evidence for abuse only create the impression that they have no convincing answers to the questions raised against them.
Atiku maintained that asking questions based on publicly available records should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigeria's sovereignty, insisting that the issues he raised concerned the country's leadership and not the nation itself.
He also faulted the Presidency for reviving past political allegations against him instead of addressing what he described as legitimate concerns, adding that Nigerians could distinguish between political mudslinging and factual explanations.
The former Vice President argued that while the Federal Government continued to seek foreign investments, loans and international recognition, it should not describe international scrutiny as an attack on Nigeria whenever uncomfortable questions emerged.
He further dismissed the notion that winning an election exempts elected officials from public scrutiny, stressing that democratic mandates do not override the obligation to remain accountable to citizens.
"The Nigerian people deserve answers, not insults. They want to know if their President forfeited money to the Government of the United States on account of drug-related offences. 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.
He urged the Presidency to provide factual explanations to Nigerians rather than engage in what he described as inflammatory rhetoric, insisting that openness and accountability remained the hallmarks of responsible democratic governance.
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