‘Before lecturing Tinubu, you must answer questions from your past’ — Presidency to Atiku

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The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, has accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of attempting to divert public attention from issues surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.

Dare made the allegation while reacting to Atiku’s recent press conference and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration ruling on the long-running dispute involving Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and the Federal Government.

An ICC arbitration tribunal sitting in Paris on Thursday, September 17, 2026, rejected claims brought by Sunrise Power against the Federal Republic of Nigeria over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.

In a post on X on Friday, Dare criticised Atiku’s comments at the press conference, accusing the former vice-president of using the occasion to shift attention away from the Mambilla controversy.

“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s recent theatrical press conference, characterised by haughty condescension and an unbecoming disregard for the high office of the President of Nigeria, is nothing short of self-deprecation,” Dare wrote.

He alleged that Atiku’s statements were aimed at distracting Nigerians from questions arising from the Mambilla project.

“Stripped of its populist posturing, Atiku’s outburst is a transparent attempt to launder his public image and distract a discerning populace from the suffocating weight of his past,” he added.

Dare also criticised Atiku for speaking on economic management and the policies of the Tinubu administration, arguing that the former vice-president should instead address questions surrounding the Mambilla project.

According to him, the project was intended to serve as a major driver of industrial development and economic growth, particularly in Taraba State, but he alleged that it became associated with private interests.

“The Mambilla Hydro Power Project, which should have been a cornerstone of Nigeria’s industrial capacity and a lifeline for Taraba State, was weaponised as a vehicle for private accumulation,” Dare alleged.

The presidential aide further took issue with Atiku’s comments on the economy and his criticism of the Tinubu administration.

“Nigerians do not need lectures on fiscal management from a political wanderer whose decades-long pursuit of the presidency has been defined by perpetual opportunism,” he said.

Dare defended Tinubu’s economic policies, saying the President was undertaking what he described as difficult structural reforms aimed at addressing longstanding problems in the Nigerian economy.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing the heavy, foundational lifting required to restructure an economy crippled by decades of structural inertia and subsidy hemorrhaging,” he wrote.

He also questioned Atiku’s record in government, particularly his role as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and his involvement in economic affairs during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“If his past stewardship as Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and overseer of the nation’s economy is any metric, his blueprint is already an open book, one annotated with controversies, privatisations of public patrimony, and international inquiries,” Dare stated.

The presidential aide subsequently called on Atiku to respond to questions surrounding the Mambilla controversy before criticising the current administration.

“Atiku Abubakar must understand a fundamental truth: political power in a modern democracy is anchored on moral authority. He cannot bypass accountability, wave away judicial and arbitral indictments in foreign capitals, and expect Nigerians to embrace him as an alternative,” Dare said.

“Before he presumes to school the administration on how to run a nation, he must first answer the lingering, unpalatable questions of his past.”

Dare concluded by saying Atiku should reserve his economic proposals while addressing the controversies associated with his past record.

“Let him save his unsolicited blueprints for a mirror; Nigeria has looked past the Mambilla mirage, and it will not return to the Egypt of calculated economic pillaging,” he maintained.

Atiku has previously disputed allegations linking him personally to wrongdoing in the Mambilla matter and has argued that the ICC arbitration award should not be presented as a corruption verdict against him. The competing claims remain part of the wider political dispute surrounding the project.