The Presidency has strongly criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his comparison of the Bola Tinubu administration to military rule, describing the remarks as a “wilful distortion of history” and a reflection of “cognitive dissonance.”
The response followed comments made by Atiku on Tuesday at the public presentation of The Loyalist, a book authored by the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, held in Abuja. At the event, Atiku described the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government as the worst administration he had witnessed in nearly four decades of political life, arguing that it had caused greater damage to Nigeria than past military dictatorships.
Reacting on Wednesday via a post on his X handle, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Communication, Sunday Dare, condemned the remarks, accusing the former vice-president of historical revisionism and political desperation. Dare said Atiku’s assertion that the current administration was worse than military rule insulted the memory of Nigerians who suffered imprisonment, exile and death under past military regimes.
“For a man who once occupied the office of Vice President under a constitutional democracy, Atiku Abubakar’s persistent inability, or refusal, to distinguish between democratic governance and military dictatorship is alarming,” Dare stated.
In the statement titled “Re: Tinubu’s Government a Dictatorship—Atiku Abubakar’s Cognitive Dissonance,” Dare described the former vice-president’s comments as reckless, adding that they trivialised the brutal realities of military rule.
He argued that Atiku’s claims collapsed under scrutiny, noting that the former vice-president continues to enjoy constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, including the ability to criticise the government openly, convene political meetings and grant media interviews—liberties that were non-existent under military regimes.
“The absurdity of Atiku’s ‘dictatorship’ narrative collapses under minimal scrutiny,” Dare said, adding that equating economic reforms under the Renewed Hope agenda with military repression was misleading.
Atiku, while speaking at the book launch, maintained that the ADC represents a coalition of political forces committed to rescuing Nigeria from what he described as an unprecedented governance crisis. He said many individuals present at the event were among those who formed the APC but later became disillusioned with its performance in office.
He called on Nigerians to take responsibility by building a credible political alternative capable of renewing the country’s democratic journey.
However, Dare dismissed Atiku’s criticism as a recurring post-election grievance, accusing him of delegitimising democratic outcomes after repeated electoral defeats. He further described Atiku as “less an elder statesman than a cautionary tale,” suggesting that his rhetoric reflected diminishing political relevance.
Dare warned that portraying a democratically elected government as worse than a military dictatorship was dangerous, corrosive to democratic values and disrespectful to the legacy of Nigeria’s democratic struggles.
