Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Presidency of resorting to personal attacks instead of addressing questions surrounding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s US civil forfeiture case.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the administration had chosen “diversion over disclosure and insults over accountability.”

“When governments abandon facts for insults and substitute evidence with abuse, they unwittingly admit that they have run out of convincing answers,” the statement read.

“Nigerians expected clarification. What they received instead was a barrage of name-calling and political invective.”

The former vice-president argued that raising questions based on publicly available records should not be interpreted as an attack on Nigeria.

“No one has reported Nigeria to anyone. Nigeria is not on trial. The issue concerns questions arising from publicly available records relating to the occupant of the nation’s highest office,” he said.

“Those records were not created by the opposition, the ADC, or any political actor. Attempting to silence legitimate public inquiry by wrapping oneself in the national flag does not answer the questions before the country.”

Atiku also faulted the Presidency for reviving past allegations against him instead of responding directly to the issues under discussion.

“Nigerians can distinguish between political mudslinging and factual responses. Personal attacks do not erase public records, nor do they substitute for transparency.

“The Presidency should resist the temptation to personalise issues that require clear and factual explanations,” he stated.

He described it as contradictory for the government to celebrate international recognition while rejecting international scrutiny when it becomes uncomfortable.

“You cannot celebrate international validation when it is convenient and condemn international scrutiny when it becomes uncomfortable. Accountability is not foreign interference; it is a democratic obligation,” he said.

Atiku further maintained that electoral victory does not remove the public’s right to demand accountability from elected officials.

“Elections confer political authority, but they do not extinguish the public’s right to ask questions. A democratic mandate is not a substitute for transparency, nor does it exempt any public official from the obligation to account to the people,” he added.

He urged the Presidency to respond to the issues raised with facts rather than engage in inflammatory rhetoric.