Atiku Should Answer Mambilla Questions Before Lecturing Tinubu — Presidency

AThe Presidency has asked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to answer questions surrounding the Mambilla power project before lecturing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on governance.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Communication, Sunday Dare, made the comment in a post on his X handle on Saturday.

Dare was reacting to Atiku’s recent comments on the Tinubu administration, accusing the former vice president of attempting to dictate how the government should be run.

He said Atiku should first address what he described as “lingering, unpalatable questions” concerning the Mambilla matter before seeking to assume the position of a critic of the current administration.

“The Mambilla matter is not a rumour invented by the internet. It is a public controversy that requires candour, not diversion,” Dare said.

The presidential aide also criticised Atiku for addressing President Tinubu as “Bola”, describing the manner as “the height of insolence.”

According to Dare, Atiku’s attempt to lecture the President on fiscal management was inappropriate, arguing that Tinubu was undertaking reforms aimed at restructuring the Nigerian economy.

“Nigerians do not need lectures on fiscal management from a political wanderer whose decades-long pursuit of the presidency has been defined by perpetual opportunism,” he said.

Dare said the President was carrying out what he described as “heavy, foundational lifting” to restructure an economy affected by decades of structural challenges and subsidy payments.

He also accused Atiku of using current economic difficulties for electoral purposes.

“Atiku’s sudden conversion to the gospel of interventionism rings hollow. This is a desperate strategy by a perennial seeker of power who weaponises transient national discomforts for electoral mileage,” Dare said.

The presidential aide urged Atiku to take his message to Nigerians as a candidate rather than attempt to dictate how the current administration should govern.

“If he has something to tell Nigerians, let him tell them as a candidate, not as an unappointed tutor to Mr President,” Dare said.