Wrestle With Your Failures, Not Your Opponents, Atiku Tells Tinubu

Former Vice President of Nigeria and 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 rather than engaging in political rhetoric, saying no amount of “macho posturing” can restore public confidence in a government he claims has lost the trust of Nigerians.

The position was contained in a statement signed by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, and released on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. In the statement, Atiku criticised President Tinubu’s recent declaration that he would “wrestle his opponents to the finish,” describing it as “the lamentation of a drowning man desperately seeking to divert attention from an abysmal record in office.”

According to Atiku, it was particularly disturbing that the President made the remark while responding to a solemn appeal by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for credible, transparent and peaceful elections.

He said the President’s response reflected “the prevailing sense of aloofness that has come to define his administration” and demonstrated “a troubling lack of the courtesy, humility and decorum expected of a President during such a high-profile engagement with one of the country’s most respected moral institutions.”

“Rather than reassuring Nigerians of his commitment to electoral integrity, the President chose bravado over statesmanship,” Atiku said.

Addressing President Tinubu directly, the former vice president declared: “Mr. President, you are a drowning man. Wrestle with your failures, not your opponents.”

He argued that a president presiding over what he described as the worst cost-of-living crisis in recent history should be focused on solving the country’s pressing challenges instead of confronting political rivals.

“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,” Atiku stated.

The former vice president further argued that governments often resort to political theatrics when they have little to celebrate.

“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.

Atiku maintained that President Tinubu’s greatest challenge was not the opposition or the ADC, but the record of his own 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,” he said.

He also reminded the President that democracy should be driven by ideas, accountability and results rather than intimidation.

“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,” Atiku said.

Urging the President to devote the remainder of his tenure to governance, Atiku said the administration should concentrate on addressing the nation’s worsening economic and security challenges instead of creating 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.