Former Vice‑President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Presidency for invoking China’s legal system in its defence of President Bola Tinubu, saying the comparison has instead intensified scrutiny of allegations surrounding the president’s past.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for 2027, said the Presidency had scored a “monumental own goal” by citing China, where the most serious drug‑trafficking offences carry the death penalty. The former vice‑president’s remarks were issued in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
The Presidency had earlier responded to reports that a lobbying group linked to Atiku in the United States submitted petitions to former President Donald Trump and the US State Department concerning a 1993 civil forfeiture case involving President Tinubu. Atiku said the Presidency’s attempt to use China as a benchmark for accountability backfired because of the Asian country’s stringent approach to narcotics offences, corruption and public accountability.
“It takes a peculiar kind of unintelligence for a spokesman to set out to drag an opponent before a hypothetical Chinese court, only to end up dragging his own principal into the dock,” the statement read. “Perhaps the spokesman did not realise that the maximum penalty under Chinese law for the most serious drug trafficking offences is death. Having chosen China as his benchmark, he unwittingly invited Nigerians to examine the very standard he thought would embarrass Atiku Abubakar.”
Atiku reiterated that he has never been indicted or convicted of corruption, drug‑related offences or any criminal offence in Nigeria or abroad. He said the facts are “neither complicated nor disputable” and are a matter of public record.
He challenged the Tinubu administration to consider how Chinese authorities would treat “a case involving $460,000 forfeited to the United States Government in a civil forfeiture proceeding concerning funds alleged to be connected to narcotics trafficking and money laundering.” Atiku argued that in China, forfeiture of suspicious proceeds would more likely signal the start of official scrutiny rather than its end.
Extending the comparison to corruption, Atiku accused the administration of failing to uphold accountability standards. “Not in China would a president sign into law a national budget immersed in scandals, padding and duplicitous appropriations,” the statement said. “Not in China would a President look the other way while a senior presidential aide faces grave allegations of creating a fake government agency.”
Atiku also criticised the Presidency for presenting a recent US government response to Nigeria’s diplomatic correspondence as evidence of Tinubu’s exoneration. “Diplomatic correspondence between sovereign governments is routine. It is neither a judgment of a court, nor a declaration of innocence, nor an instrument for rewriting history,” he said.
He urged the administration to devote its energy to addressing Nigeria’s economic and security challenges rather than engaging in political distractions.
