Presidency faults Atiku for comparing Tinubu govt to military era

The Presidency on Wednesday described a comparison of the Bola Tinubu administration to military rule by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as “a willful distortion of history and further slide into senile dementia.”

This followed Atiku’s claim that the current administration is worse than military dictatorships.

At the public presentation of a book authored by the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Bolaji Abdullahi, titled ‘The Loyalist’ in Abuja on Tuesday, the former VP described the All Progressives Congress-led government as “the worst administration I have witnessed in nearly four decades of political life.”

However, in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Communication, Sunday Dare, accused the former VP of “cognitive dissonance.”

Dare, in the statement titled “Re: Tinubu’s Government a Dictatorship—Atiku Abubakar’s Cognitive Dissonance,” said the former vice-president’s claim that Nigeria under Tinubu is worse than military rule “insults the memory of Nigerians jailed, exiled, or killed under decrees and firing squads so that men like Atiku could enjoy today’s freedoms.”

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

“His claim at the ADC event that Nigeria under Bola Tinubu is worse than military rule was not a gaffe but a willful distortion of history and further slide into senile dementia.

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

“To sanitise that era simply because he is now a serial electoral loser reveals a conscience corroded by desperation,” Dare argued.

At the book launch, Atiku said the ADC represents a convergence of political forces determined to rescue the country from what he described as an unprecedented crisis of governance.

“We have a unique opportunity within the ADC as a political party. It is a convergence of various political leanings across the country, united in an effort to reunite Nigeria and renew our democratic journey.

“If there is anything positive in our recent political development, it is this coming together to rescue the country from what I consider the worst administration I have witnessed in nearly four decades of political life.

“Not even the military dictatorships before 1999 damaged our national life and consciousness in the way this administration has done,” he said.

Atiku argued that many of those present at the event were involved in forming the APC but had been disappointed by its performance in government.

He added that Nigerians must once again take responsibility by building a credible political alternative to salvage the country.

“Many of us here were part of the formation of the APC; unfortunately, what we believed would rescue the country has not happened.

“Just as we once took responsibility to come together and form a political alternative, we must again come together to ensure the emergence of a new political organisation capable of salvaging this country for the benefit of its people,” he said.

However, Dare argued that Atiku’s “dictatorship” narrative collapses under scrutiny, noting that in the same republic the former vice-president brands tyrannical, he moves freely, convenes political meetings at will, grants interviews, and attacks the President daily under full constitutional protection.

“The absurdity of Atiku’s ‘dictatorship’ narrative collapses under minimal scrutiny. In the same republic he brands tyrannical, he moves freely, convenes political meetings at will, grants interviews, and attacks the President daily—under full constitutional protection. These are liberties military regimes extinguished without hesitation.

“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 presidential aide said.

He dismissed Atiku’s criticism as chronic post-election grievance, saying the former vice-president has perfected the art of recasting himself every four years as the chief mourner of his own electoral defeats.

This is not a one-off lapse but a chronic condition. Atiku has perfected post-election grievance, recasting himself every four years as the chief mourner of his own defeats.

“He conveniently forgets the era when dissent meant exile or death—perhaps because he was insulated by elite privilege.

“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,” Dare’s post read.

The presidential spokesman questioned whether the Waziri of Adamawa believes his own rhetoric or if his statements represent “the flailing of a man watching his relevance evaporate.”

“One must ask whether the Waziri of Adamawa believes his own rhetoric or if this is the flailing of a man watching his relevance evaporate.

“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.

“His constant cries of ‘tyranny,’ even as he shops endlessly for new party platforms, only highlight his terminal hypocrisy—devotion to democratic benefits, contempt for democratic outcomes,” Dare stated.

He described Atiku as “less an elder statesman than a cautionary tale,” saying the former vice-president has descended into inflammatory exaggeration after exhausting ideas and credibility.

“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.

“If he truly longs for the ‘order’ of military rule, he should explain why he spent decades masquerading as a democrat.

“Nigeria has moved on. His cognitive dissonance is no longer a national issue; it is a personal implosion unfolding in public,” Dare stated.

Culled from punch