August 29, 2026
Aziken
When Atiku Abubakar reinvented his stance on fuel subsidy in mid-August, it was no surprise that the Presidency launched an all-out campaign against him.
The former vice-president was painted as a desperado who would say anything in what Villa critics called a naked bid for Aso Rock in 2027. Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s information adviser, branded the shift as a “desperation for power,” arguing that Atiku had recanted the very doctrine he sold to voters in 2023.
More considerate commentators, this correspondent among them, have taken a less hysterical view. Atiku’s change of heart has done something rare in the Fourth Republic: it has forced the political class to debate an actual policy, not merely personalities or other mundane ethnic arguments.
