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• Calls ex-VP serial loser who’ll still contest 2031 election
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Minister, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a “serial contestant and loser” who will likely run again in 2031.
Speaking during an inspection tour of ongoing road works in Abuja, Wike fired back at Atiku’s recent claim that the current administration has achieved nothing positive for Nigerians. He argued that visible developments in the FCT contradict such assertions.
“Atiku is a serial failure. He is a serial contestant and loser and I am sure that in 2031, he will still contest. Nigerians would be laughing at such a person making that kind of statement that nothing positive has been done,” Wike said.
Atiku had described President Bola Tinubu’s government as the worst he had seen in his life.
He revealed that he would reverse every action and policy carried out by President Tinubu if he becomes Nigeria’s president in 2027.
“Everything is wrong with president Tinubu; honestly, in my life, this is the worst administration that I have seen in this country. I feel terribly disappointed,” Atiku said.
In a pointed challenge, Wike urged Atiku to reflect on his own tenure. “Let him compare FCT now and when he was vice president. Can he honestly say what we have now is the same as then?” Wike queried.
The minister emphasised that political distractions would not derail governance. “The election will come, but people must work. Contractors are not part of the election,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has lambasted Atiku, saying his 2027 presidential ambition was “dead on arrival.”
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a post on his verified X handle, @SundayDareSD, said the outing exposed a lack of vision, coherence and readiness for leadership at the highest level.
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“Atiku Abubakar’s latest television outing didn’t cover him in glory, it was a disaster, an unraveling broadcast in real time,” Dare wrote.
According to him, Nigerians who watched the interview were presented not with leadership or policy direction, but “a disjointed, self-indulgent performance marked by contradictions, bluster, and a startling absence of substance on matters of national importance.”
The presidential aide argued that at a time the country was implementing difficult but necessary economic reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former vice president failed to provide any credible alternative.
“When pressed for policy direction, there was none. No framework, no roadmap, just the familiar refrain of opposition for its own sake. Strip away the rhetoric, and one thing becomes clear: the only discernible agenda is personal ambition.”
Dare further criticised Atiku’s dismissal of ongoing reforms, describing it as “criticism without substance,” which he said amounted to evasion rather than leadership.
He also accused the former vice president of alienating key constituencies through his remarks, noting that the interview lacked any tone of unity or coalition-building.
“It was not a message of unity or coalition-building; it was a monologue of grievance. That is not leadership, it is isolation.”
Dare added that effective leadership requires discipline, clarity and a unifying vision – qualities he said were absent in the interview, which instead reflected “fatigue, inconsistency, and a campaign anchored on looking backward rather than leading forward.”
Dare maintained that while the country is moving forward with reforms, Nigerians are more interested in tangible results than recycled promises.
“For many Nigerians, that interview settled any lingering doubts. It was not just unconvincing, it was disqualifying,” he said.
He concluded that Atiku was not being denied political relevance but was instead “losing it, publicly, steadily, and now unmistakably.”
