Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Tinubu to abandon political grandstanding and confront the monumental failures of his administration, saying no amount of macho rhetoric can rescue a government that has already lost the confidence of its people.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described President Tinubu’s declaration that he would “wrestle his opponents to the finish” as the lamentation of a drowning man desperately seeking to divert attention from an abysmal record in office.
Atiku said it was particularly disturbing that such a reckless and undistinguished remark was made in response to a solemn appeal by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for credible, transparent and peaceful elections. He said the President’s flippant response underscored the prevailing sense of aloofness that has come to define his administration and reflected a troubling lack of the courtesy, humility and decorum expected of a President during such a high-profile engagement with one of the country’s most respected moral institutions. Rather than reassuring Nigerians of his commitment to electoral integrity, the President chose bravado over statesmanship.
“Mr. President, you are a drowning man. Wrestle with your failures, not your opponents,” Atiku said.
He noted that a President presiding over the worst cost-of-living crisis in recent memory ought not to be talking about wrestling political opponents but about wrestling inflation to the ground, defeating hunger, restoring security, stabilising the naira and rebuilding public confidence in government.
“The President should wrestle with the millions of Nigerians who now skip meals because food has become a luxury. He should wrestle with the insecurity that has turned farming communities into graveyards and highways into hunting grounds for criminals. He should wrestle with the unemployment that has robbed an entire generation of hope. He should wrestle with an economy suffocating under policy inconsistency, reckless borrowing and dwindling investor confidence.”
According to Atiku, when leaders fail, they often resort to political theatre in the hope that loud rhetoric will drown out the cries of suffering citizens.
“These are the words of a drowning man. A government that has little to celebrate inevitably seeks refuge in chest-thumping. But Nigerians are no longer interested in political performances. They are interested in performance in government. Empty slogans cannot fill empty stomachs. Boastful declarations cannot lower food prices. Threats against political opponents cannot restore the value of the naira.”
The former Vice President said the greatest opponent confronting President Tinubu is neither the ADC nor any other opposition party.
“His greatest opponent is his own record. Every unpaid worker, every struggling business, every unemployed graduate, every victim of insecurity and every hungry family is a living testimony to the consequences of his administration’s choices. That is the contest he has consistently failed to win.”
Atiku reminded the President that democracy is not a wrestling ring where intimidation determines the winner.
“Democracy is a marketplace of ideas and accountability. Governments earn another term through competence, compassion and measurable results—not through combative rhetoric. In 2027, Nigerians will not be stepping into a wrestling arena. They will be stepping into polling units to deliver a constitutional verdict.”
He urged President Tinubu to devote the remainder of his tenure to addressing the nation’s deepening crises instead of manufacturing imaginary political battles.
“The Nigerian people are not looking for a wrestler. They are looking for a leader. History will not remember who shouted the loudest. It will remember who governed the best.”
Signed:
Phrank Shaibu
Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication
to Atiku Abubakar. Vice President of Nigeria 1999-2007 and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress.
29th July, 2026
