Atiku camp slams Oshiomhole, accusing the APC senator of masking government failures after calling Atiku a serial defector
The Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, on Tuesday in Abuja accused Senator Adams Oshiomhole of weaponising noise to conceal what he claimed were the catastrophic failures of the All Progressives Congress.
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The statement followed Oshiomhole’s remarks describing Atiku as a habitual defector after the former vice president’s registration with the African Democratic Congress.
Shaibu said Senator Oshiomhole lacked the moral authority to question Atiku’s leadership record, adding that the ex-governor should examine his own political history before criticising others.
He argued that Oshiomhole’s comments were a distraction designed to divert public attention from what he described as the monumental failures of the APC, the party Oshiomhole once led.
According to the statement, Atiku was never national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party nor the head of a political empire, and therefore could not be held responsible for the type of party control associated with the APC.
Shaibu said the PDP had always operated as a democratic institution where decisions were not dictated by a single figure.
He added that if Oshiomhole sought an example of a political structure turned into a personal estate, he needed only to look at the senior political figure he served.
Shaibu alleged that, under the APC, party supremacy collapsed, internal dissent was suppressed and state institutions became partisan tools, a legacy he said was impossible to deny.
Defending Atiku’s national contributions, Shaibu highlighted the former vice president’s leadership of the National Economic Council, his role in rebuilding investor confidence and his reforms that strengthened the private sector.
He described Atiku’s development blueprint as one of the most coherent frameworks proposed in recent decades.
Shaibu questioned Oshiomhole’s credibility to comment on leadership when, in his view, the APC had failed to improve the country after eight years in power and nearly three years under President Bola Tinubu.
He contrasted Atiku’s vision and experience with what he called the APC’s propaganda and bruising legacy.
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Shaibu concluded that Oshiomhole symbolised the shortcomings of a party that had disappointed millions, insisting that the senator should step back from further commentary.
