Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has lambasted the Presidency for stating that since late President Muhammadu Buhari completed his eight years in office, Tinubu too must complete his own.
Declaring that Presidents are not crowned for eight years—they are elected, and they can be voted out.
He was responding to the earlier statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who berated him for attempting to disrupt Nigeria’s power rotation arrangement to contest for the presidential seat in 2027.
Onanuga criticised him for stating during an interview on Arise TV that he is not bound by the rotation formula because the South has spent more years in office than the North since 1999.
He said the former VP conveniently overlooked the fact that the North’s shorter tenure was due to the untimely death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, which led to President Jonathan’s succession. Noting that this accidental breach does not invalidate the power rotation arrangement between the North and the South.
Onanuga told Atiku that since Buhari completed his eight years, Tinubu too must complete his own. Urging Atiku to bury the thought of running again, as it is still the South’s turn in the 2027 election.
In a swift response through his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku told Onanuga that Nigeria does not belong to any region, any rotation cartel, or any political clique, but to Nigerians.
He said the country belongs to Nigerians who are today groaning under the weight of disastrous policies, crushing inflation, and a government that has clearly lost its moral and economic compass.
He said: “And let’s be frank: if this administration had delivered even a fraction of the competence it promised, you wouldn’t be hiding behind zoning as a shield. You would be campaigning on performance. But there is no performance, only propaganda.”
Atiku said the “2027, will not be aides, nor propaganda, nor recycled talking points that decide Nigeria’s future, it will be the Nigerian people.”
He corrected the notion that the 2023 election was lost because of zoning.
“First, The 2023 election was not lost because of zoning. It was lost through a toxic cocktail of state-backed interference, institutional compromise, and electoral irregularities that Nigerians have not forgotten. So spare us the revisionist history.
“Second, invoking the unfortunate passing of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as a political excuse in 2026 is not just disingenuous—it is morally bankrupt. A national tragedy should not be weaponized to justify mediocrity or shield failure.
“Third, the notion that President Bola Tinubu “must complete eight years” is the most anti-democratic statement anyone can make in a constitutional republic,” he said.
