Atiku’s Aide Replies Onanuga Over Peter Obi’s Defection

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar’s Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, on Thursday, said President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga’s response to Peter Obi’s defection to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, is an indication of panic in “Aso Rock.”

Onanuga had said Obi’s comments during his defection showed that he’s still bitter for coming third in the 2023 presidential election.

He also claimed that the former Labour Party presidential candidate would eventually end up as Atiku’s running mate in the ADC.

Reacting, Shaibu said Onanuga’s claim that Obi will end up as Atiku’s running mate is pure fiction.

Posting on X, Shaibu wrote: “My dear Bayo Onanuga, as media adviser to @officialABAT, this outburst says more about panic in Aso Rock than it does about @PeterObi.

“You did not write as a media manager; you wrote as a defender under pressure. And pressure replaces reason with ridicule and facts with abuse.

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“Calling Obi ‘wandering’ while defending an administration built on political migrations and elite bargains is hypocrisy dressed up as commentary.

“Nigerian politics has never been a monastery. You know this. Pretending otherwise insults your own record.

“Your attempt to brand legitimate electoral grievances as “bitterness” is not analysis; it is damage control. Millions of Nigerians questioned the 2023 process. You can sneer at them, but you cannot erase them.

“And then the insults—crude, reckless, unbecoming of someone speaking for the Presidency.

“When government communication descends into name-calling, it is usually because results are scarce and anger is abundant.

“You dismiss global ideas while defending policies copied wholesale from elsewhere. You praise “homegrown solutions” while celebrating reforms Nigerians experience only as hunger, insecurity, and collapsing livelihoods.

“Propaganda does not change lived reality. Your confidence that Obi will “play second fiddle” to @atiku is pure fiction. There is no ticket, no candidate, no imposed hierarchy. What exists is a coalition conversation—and that is what truly unsettles you.

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“Let’s be honest: this fury is not about Obi. It is about 2027.

“It is about fear that Nigerians are organising beyond your control.

“As Tinubu’s spokesman, you should know this: insults don’t win elections, spin doesn’t fill stomachs, and arrogance does not intimidate hungry people.

“Nigerians will decide in 2027—not media advisers, not propaganda merchants, and certainly not intimidation masquerading as analysis.

“Nigeria is not a monarchy. Power is not inherited. And 2027 is not yours by entitlement. Say it plainly. Or watch the people say it for you.”