‘you’re A Drowning Man,’ Atiku Tells Tinubu Over Wrestling Comment

By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has described President Bola Tinubu as a drowning man clutching at political theatre to escape the weight of his own failures.

Atiku’s stance followed the president’s recent declaration that he would “wrestle his opponents to the finish.”

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Tinubu’s remark was the lamentation of a drowning man desperately seeking to divert attention from an abysmal record in office, adding that no amount of macho rhetoric can rescue a government that has already lost the confidence of Nigerians.

Atiku said it was disturbing that such a remark was made in response to a solemn appeal by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria for credible, transparent and peaceful elections, adding that the President’s response underscored a prevailing sense of aloofness and reflected a troubling lack of courtesy, humility and decorum expected of him during such a high-profile engagement with one of the country’s most respected moral institutions.

“Mr President, you are a drowning man. Wrestle with your failures, not your opponents,” Atiku said.

He argued that a president presiding over what he called the worst cost-of-living crisis in recent memory ought not to be talking about wrestling political opponents but about wrestling inflation to the ground, defeating hunger, restoring security, stabilising the naira and rebuilding public confidence in government.

According to Atiku, when leaders fail, they often resort to political theatre in the hope that loud rhetoric will drown out the cries of suffering citizens.

“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.

The former Vice President said the greatest opponent confronting Tinubu is neither the ADC nor any other opposition party.

“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.

“Democracy is a marketplace of ideas and accountability. In 2027, Nigerians will not be stepping into a wrestling arena. They will be stepping into polling units to deliver a constitutional verdict,” he said.

Atiku urged Tinubu to devote the remainder of his tenure to addressing the nation’s deepening crises instead of manufacturing imaginary political battles.

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