Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has issued a sharp response to Edo North Senator Adams Oshiomhole after the former governor mocked his decision to contest the 2027 presidential election under the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Oshiomhole had dismissed Atiku’s chances, arguing that someone who “could not fix his own party” could not fix Nigeria.

 

 

 

In a statement released by Atiku’s spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President advised Oshiomhole to “look at himself in a mirror before speaking,” insisting that the senator’s comments were nothing more than another attempt to distract Nigerians from the failures of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

 

 

Shaibu said, “Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s attempt to question Atiku Abubakar’s capacity is nothing more than a tired distraction from the monumental failures of the APC, the very party he helped foist on Nigeria and the same party that has driven the country to its worst state in decades.”

 

 

 

He explained that Atiku’s role as Vice President did not make him the national chairman of the PDP nor the sole administrator of a political party with thousands of stakeholders. Shaibu argued that, unlike the APC, the PDP was not run like a private empire where one man dictated all decisions.

 

 

 

 

 

He said, “Atiku Abubakar was Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not the national chairman of the PDP, and certainly not the sole administrator of a political institution with thousands of independent leaders across the country. Leadership in a democratic party is not dictatorship. The PDP, unlike the APC, was not a private estate controlled from Bourdillon, where one individual tele-guides decisions and stifles internal democracy.”

 

 

 

Shaibu added that if Oshiomhole wanted to see someone who had turned a party into a personal empire, he needed only to look at the people he served. “If Oshiomhole seeks the man who ‘fixed a party’ into a personal empire, he needs only look at the godfather he serves. Under the APC, party supremacy died, dissent was criminalised and institutions of state became partisan weapons. That is the only kind of ‘fixing’ Oshiomhole understands.”

 

 

 

 

He insisted that Atiku had demonstrated the strongest leadership blueprint in Nigeria, despite not having held the office of president. He contrasted this with the APC’s governance record, saying Nigerians were suffering the consequences.

 

 

 

Shaibu said, “He has never been president, yet his development blueprint remains the most coherent Nigeria has seen in decades.”

 

 

 

He then questioned the moral authority of the APC to critique anyone’s leadership capacity. “The real question is this: If the APC could not fix Nigeria after eight wasted years and nearly three years of Tinubu, what moral authority does Oshiomhole have to comment on leadership?”

 

 

 

He concluded that Nigerians already knew the difference between both men and their political records. “Nigerians know the truth. Atiku Abubakar represents vision, experience and capacity. Oshiomhole represents noise, propaganda, and the bruising legacy of a party that betrayed the hopes of millions. He should sit this one out.”