Atiku hits back at Tinubu over fuel prices and economic hardship as both camps clash over reforms and the cost of living ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 election
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar hit back at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, in Abuja, after Tinubu criticised opposition proposals on economic policy, with Atiku’s media team arguing that Nigeria’s worsening cost of living, rather than the opposition candidate himself, should be the government’s central concern.
Also read: 2027: APM Lagos Vows to Unseat APC
Phrank Shaibu, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, delivered the response in a statement that sought to shift the political argument away from personalities and towards the everyday pressure facing Nigerian households.
Shaibu said Tinubu’s latest statement on X had devoted substantial attention to economic positions associated with Atiku while avoiding the former vice president’s name.
President Tinubu had said he would not “dignify” opposition leaders by naming them, while defending the direction of his administration’s reforms.
“Bola, Nigerians know exactly whose policy you were attacking,” Shaibu said. “You were responding to Atiku Abubakar because he has chosen to stand with millions of Nigerians being crushed by the cost-of-living crisis.”
The exchange comes as economic conditions increasingly occupy the centre of the political contest ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku, the ADC presidential candidate, has made lower energy and transport costs a prominent part of his campaign argument, while Tinubu’s administration maintains that its reforms are laying the foundation for stronger and more sustainable growth.
Tinubu has argued that Nigeria cannot return to what he describes as the distortions of the past.
In his latest remarks, the President said the government would not reverse its reforms and promised measures aimed at ensuring that economic growth becomes more visible in household incomes and daily life.
“In the next few weeks, we are addressing some of the challenges facing our vulnerable population by providing cheaper means of transport, ramping up food production and implementing relief programmes that will touch lives at the grassroots,” Tinubu said.
Shaibu seized on that promise, questioning why relief measures were becoming an immediate priority only after Nigerians had endured years of economic pressure.
He argued that Atiku’s proposals to reduce the cost of energy should not be dismissed as a return to the past when the government itself was promising cheaper transport, increased food production and assistance for vulnerable citizens.
The dispute also reflects a broader disagreement over the legacy of the fuel subsidy removal introduced by Tinubu in May 2023.
The policy was followed by significant changes in petrol prices and transport costs, becoming one of the most politically sensitive elements of the administration’s economic programme.
Atiku has criticised the impact of the reforms and has proposed targeted intervention in the energy sector.
His campaign has presented the approach as an attempt to reduce production and transport costs while supporting domestic refining, rather than simply returning to the previous subsidy model.
The former vice president has also questioned why Nigerians in an oil-producing country should face petrol prices that he argues are considerably higher than those in several other oil-producing nations.
His camp has used the comparison to reinforce its argument that economic reform must ultimately be measured by purchasing power and household welfare.
For Tinubu, however, the economic argument is broader than petrol prices.
His administration says the reforms inherited a difficult economic landscape marked by weak revenue mobilisation, foreign exchange pressures, multiple exchange-rate arrangements and years of inadequate investment.
The President has subsequently pointed to improved macroeconomic indicators and a longer-term ambition of building a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by 2030.
Tinubu has said the next challenge is ensuring that economic stability translates into lower inflation, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity, stronger production and greater purchasing power.
The political stakes are rising as the two camps sharpen their competing narratives before the 2027 election.
The ADC formally submitted Atiku Abubakar’s presidential candidacy to the Independent National Electoral Commission, while the party has selected former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate.
At the same time, opposition parties have begun fresh discussions over the possibility of presenting a single presidential candidate against the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Atiku and Peter Obi were absent from a September 1 opposition meeting in Abuja, although Atiku’s camp said his absence should not be interpreted as a rejection of opposition unity.
That developing political landscape gives the economic argument an added significance.
For Atiku’s camp, household hardship offers a powerful measure by which voters can judge the administration.
For Tinubu’s government, the reforms are being presented as difficult but necessary steps whose benefits will become more tangible over time.
Shaibu said Atiku would not be drawn into a personal confrontation with the President and instead wanted attention directed towards Nigerians dealing with the practical consequences of higher living costs.
The argument is therefore likely to remain larger than the exchange between two political figures.
With the 2027 election approaching, the competing claims over petrol prices, transport costs, food affordability and purchasing power are becoming part of a wider contest over which political vision can offer Nigerians a credible path towards a more secure and affordable life.
Also read: 2027: APM Lagos Vows to Unseat APC
The story keeps the allegations and political claims attributed to the relevant actors, while incorporating the wider 2027 context and Tinubu’s own defence of the reforms.
