Atiku Playing With Democratic Sabotage – Presidency

The Presidency has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of insulting the legacy of June 12 and “flirting dangerously with democratic sabotage” after he declared that Nigeria fared better under past military dictatorships than under the current administration.

Atiku made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking at the launch of The Loyalist, a book written by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

“If there is anything positive in our recent political development, it is this coming together (under ADC) to rescue the country from what I consider the worst administration I have witnessed in nearly four decades of my political life. Not even the military dictatorships before 1999 damaged our national life and consciousness in the way this administration has done,” the former VP said.

Reacting, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, accused Atiku of hypocrisy and a dangerous distortion of history.

In a post on X, Dare said Atiku’s recurring claims of tyranny, “even as he shops endlessly for new party platforms,” exposed what he described as a terminal devotion to democratic benefits and contempt for democratic outcomes.

“For a man who once occupied the office of Vice President under a constitutional democracy, Atiku’s persistent inability, or refusal, to distinguish between democratic governance and military dictatorship is no longer ironic; it is alarming,” Dare said.

He argued that Atiku’s claim that Nigeria under Tinubu is worse than military rule was not a verbal slip but “a wilful distortion of history.”

“It insults the memory of Nigerians who were jailed, exiled or killed under decrees and firing squads so that men like Atiku could enjoy today’s freedoms,” he added.

Describing Atiku as a serial electoral loser, the Presidency said his comments reflected desperation rather than principle, noting that the “absurdity” of his dictatorship narrative collapses under minimal scrutiny.

According to Dare, Atiku continues to enjoy full constitutional protections in the same republic he brands tyrannical, moving freely, holding political meetings, granting interviews and criticising the President openly, liberties he said were extinguished without hesitation under military regimes.

“For Atiku to sit comfortably in Abuja, shielded by democratic rights, while romanticising the ‘efficiency’ of military rule is not dissent; it is cognitive dissonance bordering on historical vandalism,” the statement said.

Dare further accused the former vice president of turning post-election grievance into a political identity, recasting himself every four years as “the chief mourner of his own defeats.”

“By equating the economic adjustments of the Renewed Hope reforms with military repression, he exposes the truth: his only ideology is unfulfilled ambition. If he cannot rule, he would rather delegitimise the democracy that rejected him,” he said.

The Presidency also questioned whether the Waziri of Adamawa genuinely believed his own rhetoric or was simply struggling with diminishing relevance.

“To argue that a ballot-produced government is worse than one imposed by bullets is reckless and corrosive. It insults the legacy of June 12 and flirts dangerously with democratic sabotage,” Dare said.

“At this stage, Atiku Abubakar is less an elder statesman than a cautionary tale. Having exhausted ideas and credibility, he has descended into inflammatory exaggeration, hoping chaos might succeed where voters have repeatedly said no.”

The statement added that if Atiku truly longed for the “order” of military rule, he should explain why he spent decades presenting himself as a democrat.

“Nigeria has moved on. His cognitive dissonance is no longer a national issue; it is a personal implosion unfolding in public,” it said. (Daily trust)