Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has claimed that the 2023 presidential election won by President Bola Tinubu was “criminally stolen” from him.  

Mr Abubakar’s statement comes over a year after the Nigerian Supreme Court affirmed Mr Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.

Reacting to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson for Mr Tinubu, who claimed that the former vice president was rejected at the polls in 2023, Mr Abubakar said on his official X account on Monday that he did not lose the election, asserting it was “criminally stolen.”

“Let me emphasise that the citizens who cast their votes in the 2023 presidential election are well aware that I did not lose; rather, we find ourselves in this predicament because the election was criminally stolen from the Nigerian people,” Mr Abubakar stated.
The former vice president further criticised Mr Tinubu’s government for lacking concrete governance plans, adding, “One can only speculate that Tinubu’s government is anchored to a mere Tea-plan, which can only lead to a T-pain.”

“Like many fellow Nigerians, I firmly believe that we find ourselves in this current economic turmoil due to the Tinubu administration’s hasty ascent to power, devoid of a coherent plan,” Mr Abubakar added.

Mr Abubakar’s remarks mark the latest in an ongoing exchange between his camp and Mr Tinubu’s over Nigeria’s struggling economy.