Atiku Rebuts Shettima’s Claim on Tinubu’s Goodwill

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Kashim Shettima’s assertion that he benefited from President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill while facing persecution from the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Shettima made the claim during the inauguration of the Third Expanded National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Business Clinics in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, last Thursday.

Shettima had stated that Tinubu's Bourdillon home became a refuge for Atiku when he was allegedly harassed, intimidated, and nearly driven out of the PDP. "He (President Tinubu) has been a veritable sanctuary for victims of political witch-hunts. When Atiku Abubakar was harassed in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it was Bourdillon he ran to for support and it was in Bourdillon that he got the needed support and later contested for the presidency of this country," Shettima said.

However, Atiku's Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, refuted this assertion in a statement released yesterday in Abuja, claiming that it was Tinubu who benefitted from Atiku’s goodwill. The statement reads: “Vice President Kashim Shettima goofed when he claimed that former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, benefited from President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill when he was being ‘persecuted’ in the PDP; truth be told, it was Tinubu that actually benefited immensely from Atiku’s goodwill."

Ibe emphasized that without Atiku’s support, Tinubu's tenure as governor of Lagos could have faced significant challenges, potentially ending his political career. The statement also argued that attempts to distort the political history of the early Fourth Republic have misrepresented the origins of the Action Congress (AC), the platform on which Atiku ran in 2007. It clarified that AC emerged from a coalition of ACD (Advanced Congress of Democrats) and other associates, including Tinubu’s faction of AD (Action for Democracy), and was not solely Tinubu's party.

“Shettima needs to be reminded that Atiku did not run under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) but under Action Congress (AC). AC came out of a coalition of ACD (Advanced Congress of Democrats) formed by mainly the PDM (People’s Democratic Movement) members and other associates and Tinubu’s faction of AD (Action for Democracy). Moreover, Tinubu was not in a position to lend the platform to Atiku, as erroneously being suggested, as he (Atiku) was nominated by all the delegates from all the states,” the statement concluded.