A fresh war of words has erupted between the Presidency and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over the way he addressed President Bola Tinubu during a recent press conference.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, took exception to Atiku’s decision to repeatedly refer to the President simply as “Bola”.
Dare’s reaction came after Atiku, while speaking in Abuja on Friday, called on the Tinubu administration to consider government intervention in the petrol market as a way of reducing the burden of high fuel prices on Nigerians.
Atiku said the President could adopt the proposal, give it a different name and claim credit for it, provided the move resulted in cheaper petrol for Nigerians.
“Bola Tinubu should not be ashamed to do what is necessary to lower the price of petrol simply because Atiku Abubakar proposed a government intervention.
“He should just take the idea, rename it if he wishes, and even take the credit. What matters to me is that Nigerians pay less,” Atiku said.
However, Dare, in a statement issued on Saturday, condemned Atiku’s manner of addressing the President, arguing that the former Vice-President’s choice of words was inappropriate.
“Alhaji Atiku’s manner of addressing President Bola Tinubu as Bola is the height of insolence. It is a clear descent into the abyss of unbridled desperation and an unraveling mind,” he said.
The presidential aide also faulted Atiku for attempting to dictate how the Federal Government should handle the economy.
“To seek to lecture a sitting president with the unbridled insolence of dropping his first name, petulantly barking instructions, and dictating how governance should be run within a truncated timeline is the height of political hubris.”
Dare also hit back at Atiku’s comments on the government’s fiscal policies, questioning his standing to criticise the administration’s economic management.
“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,” Dare said.
While defending the administration’s economic reforms, the presidential aide said Tinubu was undertaking fundamental changes to address longstanding problems in the economy.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing the heavy, foundational lifting required to restructure an economy crippled by decades of structural inertia and subsidy hemorrhaging,” he said.
Dare further dismissed Atiku’s petrol intervention proposal as politically motivated.
“Atiku’s sudden conversion to the gospel of interventionism rings hollow. This is a desperate strategy by a perennial seeker of power who weaponizes transient national discomforts for electoral mileage,” he said.
The disagreement came a day after Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo also criticised Atiku for calling Tinubu “Bola” during the same press conference.
Keyamo described the reference as “very disrespectful and discourteous”, stressing that political disagreements should not diminish the dignity attached to the office of the President.
Atiku, who is seeking the presidency under the African Democratic Congress, is preparing for the 2027 election, while Tinubu is expected to pursue a second term under the All Progressives Congress.
