Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s greatest political challenge ahead of the 2027 general election is not the opposition but the performance of his own administration.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku was reacting to Tinubu’s remarks that opposition politicians were “crying wolf” over alleged favouritism ahead of the next elections because they were “afraid of their own shadows.”

President Tinubu made the comments on Tuesday while receiving the leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), led by Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. During the meeting, the president assured the bishops that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would remain impartial and guarantee a level playing field for all political parties in the 2027 elections.

Responding, Atiku described the president’s comments as “the lamentation of a drowning man,” accusing him of choosing “bravado over statesmanship” instead of confronting the country's pressing challenges.

He said it was disappointing that Tinubu's response to the bishops' call for credible, transparent and peaceful elections was political rhetoric rather than a firm commitment to strengthening electoral integrity.

According to Atiku, the president should focus on addressing inflation, widespread hunger, insecurity, unemployment, exchange rate instability and declining investor confidence.

“The president should wrestle with the millions of Nigerians who now skip meals because food has become a luxury,” Atiku said.

“He should wrestle with the insecurity that has turned farming communities into graveyards and highways into hunting grounds for criminals. He should wrestle with the unemployment that has robbed an entire generation of hope. He should wrestle with an economy suffocating under policy inconsistency, reckless borrowing and dwindling investor confidence.”

The former vice-president argued that political rhetoric cannot erase the economic hardship facing Nigerians.

“A government that has little to celebrate inevitably seeks refuge in chest-thumping. But Nigerians are no longer interested in political performances. They are interested in performance in government,” he said.

“Empty slogans cannot fill empty stomachs. Boastful declarations cannot lower food prices. Threats against political opponents cannot restore the value of the naira.”

Atiku maintained that Tinubu's greatest challenge is the outcome of his administration's policies.

“His greatest opponent is his own record. Every unpaid worker, every struggling business, every unemployed graduate, every victim of insecurity and every hungry family is a living testimony to the consequences of his administration’s choices. That is the contest he has consistently failed to win,” he stated.

He further described democracy as “a marketplace of ideas and accountability,” urging the president to devote the remainder of his tenure to solving Nigeria’s problems rather than “manufacturing imaginary political battles.”

“The Nigerian people are not looking for a wrestler. They are looking for a leader. History will not remember who shouted the loudest. It will remember who governed the best,” Atiku added.

Also on Wednesday, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) criticised the president’s remarks, urging him to focus on combating terrorism, banditry and kidnapping instead of engaging opposition parties.

In a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said elections are won through good governance and performance, insisting that insecurity and economic hardship—not opposition politicians—remain the president’s real political opponents.