Sure, this is the first time Atiku’s policy thrust appears to resonate strongly with the people. His persistence, faith in his convictions, and audacity have strengthened the contest around our experimental presidential system of government. Whether he is playing to the gallery and seeking cheap popularity or not remains to be seen… What is certain, however, is that the destiny of 240 million Nigerians should not be tied to one impoverishing policy.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga called Atiku Abubakar a “perennial candidate for the presidency of Nigeria” in his first official attack on the former Vice President’s promise to reintroduce fuel subsidy. Atiku is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself said Atiku is “ignorant of governance” or perhaps of how subsidy works. He may be all of that and more.
But how about debating the message: Tinubu’s subsidy removal, its discontents and its gains, if any? Instructively, since Atiku threw the first salvo, the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has switched to panic mode, reacting, rebutting, rebuking, scrutinising and attacking almost every statement by Atiku, as well as those of his aides, and even his body language.
To the extent that critics describe the government’s response as a “knee-jerk reaction”, Atiku’s assertion seems to have resonated with Nigerians whose living conditions have been directly affected since President Tinubu’s ill-advised, ill-timed and insensitive fuel subsidy removal. But I do agree that Atiku’s ambition is perennial, his policy vows inconsistent and his explanations inadequate. Since 2007, when his first journey towards Aso Rock began, Atiku has never looked back.
He has rattled every sitting president. In the process, the judiciary and democracy gained. Every election has been an Atiku moment: 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023 and now 2027, which, according to him, is in