Atiku: Presidency's China Comparison Exposes Tinubu to Greater Scrutiny

Former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sharply criticized the presidency for invoking China's legal system in defense of President Bola Tinubu. Abubakar contends that this comparison has inadvertently drawn more attention to allegations surrounding Tinubu's past, calling it a "monumental own goal" by the presidency.

Abubakar, who was the presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 election, highlighted China's stringent laws, particularly the death penalty for serious drug trafficking offenses. He argued that by using China as a benchmark, the presidency has exposed Tinubu to deeper public scrutiny. "It takes a peculiar kind of unintelligence for a spokesman to set out to drag an opponent before a hypothetical Chinese court, only to end up dragging his own principal into the dock," Abubakar stated in a release issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

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It takes a peculiar kind of unintelligence for a spokesman to set out to drag an opponent before a hypothetical Chinese court, only to end up dragging his own principal into the dock.

The former vice president maintained that he has never been indicted or convicted of corruption, drug-related offenses, or any criminal offense, either in Nigeria or abroad, describing this as an "incontrovertible matter of public record." He further suggested that if the Tinubu administration intended to use China as a standard for accountability, Nigerians are equally entitled to question how Chinese authorities would handle a case involving $460,000 forfeited to the U.S. government in a civil forfeiture proceeding linked to alleged narcotics trafficking and money laundering. Abubakar emphasized China's reputation for uncompromising anti-narcotics laws and tough public accountability measures.

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Atiku Abubakar has never been indicted or convicted by any court in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world for corruption, narcotics offences or, indeed, any criminal offence whatsoever. That is an incontrovertible matter of public record.