By Bayo Wahab

The Arewa Youth Council has tackled former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for spearheading coalition ahead of the 2027 presidential election. 

The council said the coalition is nothing but a gathering of political orphans, who are desperate to regain relevance.

The group also slammed Atiku over his recent attacks on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing his posture as bitter, hypocritical, and steeped in desperation following decades of failed presidential bids.

In a statement issued Thursday in Kaduna, Comrade Adams Reuben, President of the Council, said it was both laughable and shameful that Atiku, who “presided over the reckless sale of Nigeria’s national assets to cronies during his time as head of the National Council on Privatisation”, now positions himself as a reformer and moral compass.

“Atiku might be suffering from senility or early-stage brain fatigue triggered by his serial rejections at the polls,” Reuben said.

“How does a man so deeply involved in the systemic weakening of Nigeria’s economic backbone now question a leader who is working tirelessly to repair the damage?

“He supervised the transfer of Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), and other prized national assets to associates under the guise of reforms that left millions of Nigerians worse off. That’s the legacy he’s running from, and he thinks we’ll forget by screaming ‘coalition’ and throwing jabs at Tinubu.”

Responding to Atiku’s recent push for a coalition ahead of 2027, the group dismissed it as another “failed train heading nowhere.”

“Nigerians have seen through that smokescreen. This so-called coalition is nothing but a gathering of political orphans, desperate to regain relevance. It is a failed train heading to nowhere — and Atiku is not only the conductor, he’s the last passenger too,” Reuben declared.

The northern youth group emphasized that while Atiku has been perpetually chasing the presidency, Tinubu got it right on his first attempt because of Nigerians’ trust in his leadership.

Reuben called on Atiku to take a bow from public discourse and stop distracting the current administration from delivering on promises made to Nigerians.

“This is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first time on the presidential ballot — and he won because Nigerians believe in his vision, his intellect, and his ability to take tough decisions. Atiku has contested six times, lost each time, and still thinks we owe him the presidency?,” the group queried.

“He has failed. Nigerians have moved on. It’s time Atiku does the same. His bitterness will not change the fact that the country is finally in the hands of a thinker, a builder, and a leader.”

The Arewa Youth Council concluded by warning that it would continue to speak against “those who sow division, incite bitterness, and attempt to whitewash their tainted legacies in the name of political opposition”.

Vanguard News