Atiku to Presidency: Insults Can’t Replace Transparency in Tinubu’s US Forfeiture Case

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Presidency of avoiding accountability by resorting to personal attacks instead of addressing concerns surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s United States civil forfeiture case.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Tinubu administration had chosen “diversion over disclosure and insults over accountability” rather than providing Nigerians with factual explanations.

According to the former vice-president, the Presidency failed to respond to the substantive issues raised about the case and instead focused on attacking his personality.

“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 argued that raising questions based on publicly available records should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigeria’s sovereignty.

“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.

He stressed that the documents in question were neither created by the opposition nor by the African Democratic Congress, insisting that seeking explanations from public officials remains a legitimate democratic exercise.

The former vice-president also criticised the Presidency for reviving past allegations against him instead of responding directly to the issues raised.

“Nigerians can distinguish between political mudslinging and factual responses. Personal attacks do not erase public records, nor do they substitute for transparency,” he said.

Atiku described it as contradictory for the administration to celebrate international recognition while dismissing international scrutiny whenever it becomes uncomfortable.

He maintained that electoral victory does not shield any public official from public accountability.

“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 Presidency to provide evidence rather than rhetoric, Atiku insisted Nigerians deserved clear answers regarding the long-standing US forfeiture case.

“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,” he said.