Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have ignited a fresh debate over Nigeria’s privatisation policy, with Atiku and his political party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Friday, responding to Tinubu’s criticism of the Atiku’s role in the privatisation exercise he supervised while in government.

While Atiku dismissed President Tinubu as lacking the proper understanding of the principles of privatisation, the ADC said the President should be worried about losing re-election as he would be up against suffering Nigerians in 2027.

Atiku railed at Tinubu, accusing him of hypocrisy, historical distortion, and political desperation, following the President’s criticism of the former Vice President on Thursday.

President Tinubu, while hosting leaders and coordinators of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors in Abuja, had taken a swipe at some opposition figures.

Tinubu had questioned the records of those criticising his administration, saying many of them have held strategic positions in the past without delivering lasting results.

While not mentioning any name, he had alleged, “If you look at one of them, no one without history among them – no one without history. The head was the chairman of the privatisation council of Nigeria in this country one time.

“He privatised the steel industry in Delta. Is it working today? No. Is anything they privatised working today? They want to privatise another man’s political party. That one says no.”

But in a statement issued on his behalf by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku, who chaired the National Council on Privatisation, during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, described Tinubu’s remarks as a “reckless tirade” that exposes “a troubling pattern of hypocrisy and historical amnesia.”

The former Vice President expressed astonishment that a President who has faced persistent questions over his own credentials would attempt to discredit others with well-documented records of public service.

“Atiku Abubakar’s attention has been drawn to the latest reckless tirade by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—a performance that exposes not just desperation, but a troubling pattern of hypocrisy and historical amnesia,” the statement read.

Atiku said Tinubu’s criticism collapses under scrutiny, recalling that the President had previously opposed the very reforms he now appears to be implementing.

According to the statement, Atiku had long advocated the privatisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the sale of refineries to credible private investors—a position Tinubu reportedly resisted at the time.

The statement argued that the current administration was now presiding over a system that has effectively commercialised the national oil company “in opacity—without clear valuation, without transparency, and with lingering questions about who truly benefits.”

“This is not reform; it is privatisation without accountability,” the former Vice President declared

The response further defended Atiku’s role in Nigeria’s economic reforms, citing several companies as evidence of the success of the privatisation programme he supervised.

These include Oando Plc (formerly Unipetrol), Conoil Plc, African Petroleum (now Ardova Plc), Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals, Benue Cement Company, and Transcorp Hilton Abuja, all described as enduring testaments to policies that unlocked value and revived struggling state enterprises.

The statement then took a direct swipe at the President’s intellectual posture, noting that his comments betray a failure to engage even the most basic documented history of Nigeria’s economic reforms.

“It is not our fault that the President does not and cannot read, because Bola Tinubu has a history of attending a school in Lagos two years before it was founded, upon which he claimed his crooked Chicago State University degree,” the statement added pointedly.

“If he were properly educated he would have acquainted himself with the privatisation records in the presidency or the painstaking account of these reforms as captured by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai in ‘The Accidental Public Servant,’ where the privatisation programme was clearly documented as a bold and structured effort to dismantle inefficiency and drive private sector-led growth.”

It added that Tinubu’s remarks could only have been made in ignorance of facts already laid bare in public records and credible accounts.

“You cannot oppose reform when it demands courage and then execute a shadow version of it in power,” the statement added.

Atiku’s camp further criticised the tone of Tinubu’s remarks, saying the President’s resort to mockery reflects a deeper leadership problem.

“The President’s attempt to reduce a serious economic legacy to playground ridicule only underscores a deeper problem: a leadership more comfortable with insults than with facts,” the statement said.

More fundamentally, the President’s comments only draw attention to the grim reality Nigerians live with daily under this administration.

“Across the country, families are skipping meals, businesses are shutting their doors, and hardworking citizens are watching their incomes evaporate under the weight of relentless inflation and a collapsing purchasing power. The cost of living has become unbearable, insecurity continues to stalk communities, and hope is steadily giving way to despair.

“What has been marketed as reform has translated into hardship without relief—policies that bite harder each day while offering no clear path to recovery. This is the true state of the nation, and no amount of rhetoric can mask the pain etched into the lives of ordinary Nigerians.”

It concluded by asserting that Atiku’s record remains “clear, documented, and defensible,” while noting that “persistent public concerns” about the President’s identity, age, and academic history remain unresolved.

“A leader who has not fully resolved questions about his own background should exercise restraint before casting aspersions on others,” the statement added.

The statement ended with a cautionary note: “Nigerians are watching.”

In the same vein, the ADC insisted that contrary to the claims by Tinubu, he should be afraid of a major defeat in 2027 because he would be contesting against millions of Nigerians who have faced unprecedented hardship under his government.

In a statement by National Publicity Secretary, ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said it was reacting to the statement by the President that he was not scared of the opposition, whom he mocked as holding its convention on the street.

The party, however, described the remarks as unpresidential, saying that with his utterances, the President appears preoccupied with politics even as the majority of Nigerians sink deeper into poverty and are left helpless in the hands of insurgents and kidnappers.

“’What Nigerians saw was not the confidence of a leader in control. It was the anxiety of a President increasingly disconnected from the reality of hardship, insecurity, and frustration facing millions of citizens.

”At a time when families are battling a historic cost of living crisis, food inflation, rising debt burdens, and collapsing purchasing power, the President chose to mock the opposition instead of addressing the suffering of Nigerians.

”However, even as he spoke, reports of children being abducted from examination centres were circulating. This is the reality of today’s Nigeria, insecurity spreading deeper into everyday life while government appears distracted.”, Abdullahi stressed.

He said the President should not be ridiculing the opposition, noting, rather, ”He should be deeply concerned that the majority of Nigerians have rejected his government, whose ill-conceived policies have ruined lives and destroyed livelihoods. These are the reasons he should be scared, because the people are determined to vote him out.”

According to Abdullahi, ”We also reject the false narrative around the ADC National Convention. We did not hold our convention on the street. If that was the story supplied to the President by agents of disruption, then he has been misinformed.

”But even if any opposition party were forced to gather outside established venues, Nigerians would understand why. Under this administration, democratic space has shrunk significantly.

”No government before now had denied political parties fair access to public venues such as Eagle Square, a national civic ground that belongs to all Nigerians, not to any ruling party.”

Accordingly, Abdullahi said, ”The President also cannot preach separation of powers while simultaneously assuming the role of interpreter of the law, political referee, and commentator on judicial matters. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cannot be a President and a judge at the same time.

“If this administration truly respected separation of powers, Nigerians would not have witnessed the repeated weakening and humiliation of institutions meant to serve as checks and balances. The legislature, in particular, has too often appeared reduced to an extension of executive convenience.

”We also note the President’s recent attempt to ingratiate himself with the supporters of late President Muhammadu Buhari. After years of distancing himself from the late President and denigrating his record, blaming him for every failure of his government, it is hypocritical to suddenly make a U-turn because of the coming election. It is too late.

”The issue before the country today is simple: hardship is rising, insecurity is worsening, debt is mounting, and hope is fading. No amount of political theatre can hide that truth.”, Abdullahi said.

He maintained that the ADC remains focused on building a credible alternative anchored on competence, security, prosperity, and democratic freedom, saying , ”Nigerians deserve better than excuses, propaganda, and power games.” (Arise News)

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