By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA – The defection of former Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi, to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has sparked a sharp exchange between the Presidency and the opposition, with an aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accusing Aso Rock of panicking ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to comments credited to presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, Atiku’s Special Adviser on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the reaction from the Presidency betrayed anxiety rather than confidence, arguing that Obi’s move merely exposed deeper fears within the ruling camp.
Shaibu, who spoke on behalf of the former Vice President, in a statement, noted that Onanuga’s remarks showed a departure from the restraint expected of someone speaking for the Presidency, describing the tone as defensive and unbecoming.
“As media adviser to President Bola Tinubu, this outburst says more about panic in Aso Rock than it does about Peter Obi.
“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.
“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,” Shaibu said.
The Atiku aide also pushed back against attempts to dismiss post-election discontent, insisting that public concerns about the 2023 polls remain valid and widespread.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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,” he said.
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