Atiku’s aide: Presidency’s reaction to Amaechi, el-Rufai’s criticism is attack on democracy

Paul Ibe, media adviser to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has described the reaction of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to its criticism as “a stark attack” on Nigeria’s democracy.

Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, and Nasir el-Rufai, the ex-governor of Kaduna, recently made headlines after airing their displeasure about the situation of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the country.

El-Rufai said APC has abandoned its founding principles and is promoting poor leadership.

On his part, Amaechi said Tinubu and the political class would not cede power to the younger generation without a fight.

The comments generated fierce responses from the presidency. First, Daniel Bwala, the president’s special adviser on policy communication, asked the ex-minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) if his take on the APC would have been different if he had been a member of Tinubu’s cabinet.

Sunday Dare, special adviser to the president on media and public communication, described the critics as “wannabes”.

Dare added that “the clouds are beginning to clear” and “the combat begins”.

However, in a statement on Sunday, Ibe claimed that Dare’s statement shows “the Tinubu administration plans to take the next election in the country as ‘a combat and a fight”.

He said the Tinubu government should unite and heal the nation and desist from making careless remarks about other countries.

“It therefore becomes pertinent to tell the Tinubu administration that last week’s gathering of political leaders across the country is aimed at fostering the ethos of democracy in Nigeria, making sure that elections in Nigeria are credible, and that democracy is the vehicle for progress and social justice in the country,” the statement reads.

“We find it curious that the Tinubu government would react to these noble ideals as ‘Machiavellian inclinations’.

“If the Tinubu administration could describe opposition in a democracy in the language of the era of the Dark Ages, we find such behaviour as unbecoming and a stark attack on the collective impression of our hard-won democracy and the fundamental human rights that it guarantees.

“We therefore urge the Tinubu government to unite and heal the nation and desist from making careless remarks about other countries or the patriotism of the Nigerian people.”