The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has described the Presidency’s latest statement attacking his person as further proof that the President Bola Tinubu’s administration has chosen diversion over disclosure and insults over accountability.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said it was telling that the Presidency devoted several paragraphs to personal attacks without addressing the fundamental issues that continue to generate legitimate public interest.

He said: “When governments abandon facts for insults and substitute evidence with abuse, they unwittingly admit that they have run out of convincing answers. Nigerians expected clarification. What they received instead was a barrage of name-calling and political invective.”

Atiku noted that raising questions about matters contained in public records should never be misconstrued as an attack on Nigeria’s sovereignty.

“No one has reported Nigeria to anyone. Nigeria is not on trial. The issue concerns questions arising from publicly available records relating to the occupant of the nation’s highest office. Those records were not created by the opposition, the ADC, or any political actor. Attempting to silence legitimate public inquiry by wrapping oneself in the national flag does not answer the questions before the country.”

The former Vice President said it was particularly unfortunate that the Presidency chose to revive old political allegations against him instead of responding directly to the issues it was confronted with.

“Nigerians can distinguish between political mudslinging and factual responses. Personal attacks do not erase public records, nor do they substitute for transparency. The Presidency should resist the temptation to personalise issues that require clear and factual explanations.”

Atiku further observed the irony of an administration that actively seeks foreign investment, foreign loans, favourable international ratings, and global endorsements suddenly portraying international scrutiny as an assault on Nigeria’s independence.

“You cannot celebrate international validation when it is convenient and condemn international scrutiny when it becomes uncomfortable. Accountability is not foreign interference; it is a democratic obligation,” he said.

He also dismissed the argument that electoral victory automatically settles every question concerning public accountability.

“Elections confer political authority, but they do not extinguish the public’s right to ask questions. A democratic mandate is not a substitute for transparency, nor does it exempt any public official from the obligation to account to the people.”

Atiku urged the Presidency to abandon its combative posture and provide Nigerians with clear, factual responses instead of inflammatory rhetoric.

He said: “If the government believes that the public record has been misunderstood or misrepresented, the appropriate response is to present the facts. Abuse cannot replace evidence, and propaganda cannot replace truth.”

The former Vice President maintained that history has consistently shown that confident governments respond to scrutiny with openness rather than hostility.

“The Nigerian people deserve answers, not insults. They want to know if their President forfeited money to the Government of the United States of America on account of drug related offenses. They deserve transparency, not diversion. Until those questions are addressed with facts, no amount of outrage or personal attacks will silence legitimate public inquiry.”

A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday declared Jimi Adebisi Lawal as the authentic governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, for the forthcoming Ogun State governorship election.

The judgment, delivered by Justice Abiodun Adeyemi, resolved the protracted leadership and candidature dispute that had divided the party into rival factions, each laying claim to the governorship ticket.

Lawal, a close associate of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, secured the legal victory after the court held that his emergence as the party’s candidate complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the ADC constitution.

The suit, marked FHC/AB/CS/97/2026, challenged the legitimacy of the governorship primary that produced multiple factional candidates.

In his judgment, Justice Adeyemi ruled that the primary election which produced Lawal was validly conducted and duly monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court held that the exercise complied with all statutory requirements and remained the only lawful governorship primary recognised under the law.

Consequently, the court declared Lawal the authentic governorship candidate of the ADC in Ogun State and directed INEC to accord him full recognition by reflecting his name in its official records as the party’s flag bearer.

Reacting to the judgment, the Ogun State Chairman of the ADC, Femi Soluade, described the ruling as a victory for democracy and an opportunity to unite the party ahead of the governorship election.

“For us, the soul of the party is what is most important. We have decided that there will be no victor and no vanquished. We must be magnanimous in victory because those on the other side remain our brothers and sisters.”

He said the party would immediately begin efforts to reconcile aggrieved members and strengthen its structures ahead of the election.

Also speaking after the judgment, Lawal described the verdict as an act of divine intervention following months of uncertainty over the party’s primary election, maintaining that he had won the primary election convincingly but endured months of anxiety over the dispute.

“I have had sleepless nights since May because I believed I had been cheated. I won on merit. It was not a close contest; it was a landslide. Yet, what was a landslide was turned into a minority.”

He commended the judiciary for upholding the rule of law and extended an olive branch to his main challenger, Biodun Collins Ogundipe, saying he remained willing to work with all stakeholders in the interest of the party and Ogun State.

“This victory belongs to all of us in the ADC. We need a united family because we have a formidable ruling party to confront. We cannot afford to remain divided.

“I have reached out to Dr. Ogundipe before, during, and after the primary. I remain ready to work with him. I bring experience, while he brings the energy of youth. Together, we can move the ADC forward.”

Lawal added that genuine reconciliation remained the only path to presenting a formidable alternative to the ruling party in the forthcoming election.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that he has nothing to hide regarding the finances of the state.

Makinde made the declaration while reacting to a statement issued by the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

DAILY POST gathered that a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan had on Wednesday declared that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has no power to investigate the finances of the current administration in the state.

The APC, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Wasiu Sadare, on Thursday, said the EFCC would do its job at the appropriate time.

Sadare, in the statement issued on behalf of the APC, condemned the court judgment.

But Makinde, in his reaction, said he has nothing to hide.

Makinde, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, noted that he has managed the resources of the state well.

He said the decision of his administration to approach the court for clarification on the EFCC’s demand for copies of all contracts and details of transactions with contractors between 2021 and 2025 was not an attempt to forestall an investigation.

He said the APC’s claim that Makinde’s decision to seek judicial intervention amounts to avoiding investigation is misleading.

Makinde said in the statement: “The decision of the Oyo State Government to approach the Federal High Court for clarification on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) demand for copies of all contracts and details of transactions with contractors between 2021 and 2025 is not an attempt to forestall investigation because neither the state government nor Governor Seyi Makinde has anything to hide.

“The APC’s claim that Governor Makinde’s decision to seek judicial intervention amounts to avoiding investigation is both misleading and legally unfounded. Resorting to the courts is not an admission of guilt but a constitutional right guaranteed under Nigerian law.”