The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Tinubu to focus on addressing what he described as the failures of his administration instead of engaging in political rhetoric ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, was reacting to the President’s recent declaration that he would “wrestle his opponents to the finish.”
NEWSNGR reports that President Tinubu made the submission on Tuesday when he hosted Catholic Bishops who visited him at the State House in Abuja.
The former Vice President described the remark as “the lamentation of a drowning man” and accused the President of attempting to divert attention from what he called an “abysmal record in office.”
According to Atiku, it was troubling that the President made the statement in response to an appeal by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for credible, transparent and peaceful elections.
He said Tinubu’s response reflected “aloofness” and a lack of the courtesy, humility and decorum expected of a President during an engagement with one of the country’s respected moral institutions.
Rather than reassuring Nigerians of his commitment to electoral integrity, Atiku said, the President chose “bravado over statesmanship.”
“Mr. President, you are a drowning man. Wrestle with your failures, not your opponents,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President argued that a President presiding over the country’s economic and security challenges should be focused on addressing inflation, hunger, insecurity, unemployment, the depreciation of the naira and declining public confidence in government.
“The President should wrestle with the millions of Nigerians who now skip meals because food has become a luxury. He should wrestle with the insecurity that has turned farming communities into graveyards and highways into hunting grounds for criminals. He should wrestle with the unemployment that has robbed an entire generation of hope. He should wrestle with an economy suffocating under policy inconsistency, reckless borrowing and dwindling investor confidence,” he said.
Atiku further alleged that governments with poor records often resort to political theatrics to distract citizens from pressing national issues.
“These are the words of a drowning man. A government that has little to celebrate inevitably seeks refuge in chest-thumping. But Nigerians are no longer interested in political performances. They are interested in performance in government. Empty slogans cannot fill empty stomachs. Boastful declarations cannot lower food prices. Threats against political opponents cannot restore the value of the naira,” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate maintained that President Tinubu’s greatest challenge was not the opposition but the performance of his administration.
“His greatest opponent is his own record. Every unpaid worker, every struggling business, every unemployed graduate, every victim of insecurity and every hungry family is a living testimony to the consequences of his administration’s choices. That is the contest he has consistently failed to win,” Atiku stated.
He also stressed that democracy should not be reduced to intimidation or political confrontation.
“Democracy is a marketplace of ideas and accountability. Governments earn another term through competence, compassion and measurable results—not through combative rhetoric. In 2027, Nigerians will not be stepping into a wrestling arena. They will be stepping into polling units to deliver a constitutional verdict,” he said.
Atiku urged the President to dedicate the remainder of his tenure to tackling the country’s challenges rather than engaging in what he described as imaginary political battles.
“The Nigerian people are not looking for a wrestler. They are looking for a leader. History will not remember who shouted the loudest. It will remember who governed the best,” he added.
