2027: Tinubu must face Nigerians to account for stewardship – Atiku

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said that President Bola Tinubu must face Nigerians to account for his stewardship in the last three and a half years.

Atiku, in a statement by the Director, Strategic Communication, ADC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Phrank Shaibu, said President Tinubu cannot be seeking a re-election while sending governors, ministers and defectors across the country to defend his performance in the last three and a half years.

President Tinubu, while speaking at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council at the State House, on Wednesday, had said he would not be available for all of the campaign. According to the President, he agrees with his party men that the 2027 electioneering campaign should not affect governance.

However, the former vice-president stated that it was President Tinubu who made promises to Nigerians in 2023, therefore, he must face the people to answer questions on his administration.

According to him, “ Tinubu says he may miss campaign rallies because Nigeria needs his attention. Where was that urgency when Nigerians pleaded for relief? He has had three and a half years to govern. In that time, families have been forced to cut meals, postpone medical care and watch their earnings lose value before they get home.”

“Now he wants another mandate. Before asking Nigerians for one, he must face them and account for the first term. Let him look a mother in the eye and explain what his government has done to make food affordable. Let him tell pensioners why they cannot afford their medicines. Let him explain to young Nigerians why years of study and hard work have still not brought them decent jobs.

“ Tinubu says American creditors cannot wait. Nigerians cannot wait either. They have bills to pay, children to feed and lives to rebuild. They deserve a President who treats their suffering with the same urgency he gives creditors and investors.”

Atiku added that “instead, he is assembling a crowd of politicians to speak for him. He can fill every campaign stage in Nigeria. He cannot fill an empty pot with surrogates. He cannot send a politician into a market to persuade prices to fall.

“The people on his campaign council did not receive the mandate in 2023. Tinubu did. He made the promises. He took the decisions. He must face the questions. Nigerians will hear whatever his surrogates have to say. But when they vote, they will remember what they have lived through. No crowd of politicians can stand between Tinubu and his record.”