The Arewa Youth Council (AYC), has berated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his constant criticism of President Bola Tinubu, labelling him a bitter hypocrite who is being driven by his desperation to become Nigeria’s president after several failed attempts.
The AYC, in a statement issued in Kaduna on Thursday, said Atiku’s actions were both laughable and shameful for a man who oversaw the “reckless sale” of Nigeria’s national assets to his allies and cronies during his tenure as head of the National Council on Privatisation, only to turn around and present himself as a reformer and moral authority.
In the statement signed by AYC’s President, Comrade Adams Reuben, the group said Atiku’s recent push for a coalition ahead of the 2027 general election, was a “failed train heading nowhere”.
“Atiku might be suffering from his serial rejections at the polls,” the AYC President said.
“How does a man so deeply involved in the systemic weakening of Nigeria’s economic backbone now question a leader who is working tirelessly to repair the damage?
“He supervised the transfer of Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), and other prized national assets to associates under the guise of reforms that left millions of Nigerians worse off. That’s the legacy he’s running from, and he thinks we’ll forget by screaming ‘coalition’ and throwing jabs at Tinubu.”
Continuing, the Arewa youth group said:
“Nigerians have seen through that smokescreen. This so-called coalition is nothing but a gathering of political orphans, desperate to regain relevance. It is a failed train heading to nowhere — and Atiku is not only the conductor, he’s the last passenger too.”
The group also took out time to extol President Tinubu, stressing that while Atiku has been perpetually chasing the presidency, Tinubu got it at the first time of asking because of Nigerians’ trust in his leadership.
“This is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first time on the presidential ballot — and he won because Nigerians believe in his vision, his intellect, and his ability to take tough decisions. Atiku has contested six times, lost each time, and still thinks we owe him the presidency?
“He (Atiku) has failed. Nigerians have moved on. It’s time Atiku does the same. His bitterness will not change the fact that the country is finally in the hands of a thinker, a builder, and a leader.
“Those who sow division, incite bitterness, and attempt to whitewash their tainted legacies in the name of political opposition,” the group concluded.
© Ripples Nigeria