Atiku Faults Tinubu Over Wrestling Vow, Borrowing Record
A combative pledge by President Bola Tinubu to “wrestle” his rivals ahead of the 2027 general election has drawn a sharp rebuke from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, reigniting a bitter contest over the state of Nigeria’s economy and the direction of the country’s public finances.
Tinubu had, during an audience with the leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria at the State House in Abuja, reportedly declared that he was prepared to wrestle his opponents “to the finishing point” in the next election. The remark came as the bishops appealed to political leaders to guarantee credible, transparent and peaceful polls.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, described the comment as the language of “a drowning man,” arguing that the setting demanded reassurance rather than confrontation.
“Mr President, you are a drowning man. Wrestle with your failures, not your opponents,” Atiku said. He added that the President’s “greatest opponent is his own record,” citing unpaid workers, struggling businesses, unemployed graduates and hungry families as evidence of the administration’s shortcomings.
“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, insisting that the 2027 election would be settled at polling units and “not a wrestling arena.”
The exchange coincided with fresh scrutiny of government borrowing. Citing the Budget Office of the Federation’s Fourth Quarter and Consolidated Budget Implementation Report for 2024, Atiku said the administration exceeded its approved borrowing ceiling by N4.79tn, lifting total fresh borrowing to N12.62tn.
The official report shows new borrowings rose to N12.62tn against a budgeted N7.83tn, an overshoot of 61.2 per cent, after a revenue shortfall widened the fiscal deficit to N13.51tn. Federal Government revenue closed at N20.98tn, N4.90tn below target, while expenditure stood at N34.49tn. The report also recorded N3.19tn in budget support that was not provided for in the budget and whose source was not disclosed, alongside debt servicing of N12.36tn, which exceeded projections by more than 52 per cent. Total public debt reached N144.67tn by December 2024, pushing the debt to GDP ratio to 61.22 per cent, above the government’s own 40 per cent threshold.
Atiku said the figures exposed “a pattern of fiscal recklessness, opacity and waste,” recalling that Nigerians were told the removal of fuel subsidy and higher taxes would curb borrowing. He also pointed to what he described as an estimated N7.98tn oil revenue windfall from higher crude prices, arguing that stronger earnings should have eased the reliance on loans. “A government earning windfalls while borrowing recklessly is not suffering from lack of revenue; it is suffering from lack of discipline,” he said.
The administration has consistently defended its reforms, including the June 2023 removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the naira, as necessary to stabilise the economy and widen revenue. Some indicators have since eased. The National Bureau of Statistics put headline inflation at 15.91 per cent in June 2026, down from 25.29 per cent a year earlier, though food inflation stayed elevated and living costs high for many households.
The row is the latest in a series of clashes between the opposition and the Presidency ahead of 2027, with the ADC casting itself as the arrowhead of a coalition seeking to deny Tinubu a second term. Whether the economic argument gains traction is likely to depend on how far recent gains in inflation translate into relief at the market, and on the credibility of the electoral process the bishops themselves urged both sides to protect.