Atiku’s aide replies Oshiomhole, says ex-VP not responsible for PDP crisis

Phrank Shaibu, senior special assistant on public communication to Atiku Abubakar, has criticised Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, over his comments on the former vice-president.

On Monday, Oshiomhole, ex-national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said Abubakar lacks the competence to govern Nigeria.

Oshiomhole’s comments came hours after Abubakar formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party adopted by a coalition of opposition politicians.

In a statement on Tuesday, Shaibu said Oshiomhole’s remarks were “a tired distraction” aimed at diverting attention from “the failures of the APC”, a party he argued has plunged Nigeria into its worst state in decades.

“Atiku Abubakar was Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not the national chairman of the PDP, and certainly not the sole administrator of a political institution with thousands of independent leaders across the country,” the statement reads.

“Leadership in a democratic party is not dictatorship. The PDP, unlike the APC, was not a private estate controlled from Bourdillon, where one individual tele-guides decisions and stifles internal democracy.

“If Oshiomhole seeks the man who ‘fixed a party’ into a personal empire, he needs only look at the godfather he serves. Under the APC, party supremacy died, dissent was criminalised, and institutions of state became partisan weapons. That is the only kind of ‘fixing’ Oshiomhole understands.”

Shaibu said Abubakar’s record in office, including his stewardship of the national economic council, demonstrated vision and capacity, noting that his reform efforts strengthened the private sector and attracted investments.

He argued that although Abubakar has never been president, his development blueprint remains one of the most coherent frameworks for Nigeria’s progress.

Shaibu wondered what moral authority the APC has to question leadership when, according to him, the party failed to fix the country after “eight wasted years” and nearly three years under President Bola Tinubu.

He said Nigerians are well aware that Abubakar represents experience and competence, insisting that Oshiomhole’s interventions amount to “noise and propaganda”.