Presidency Fires Back at Atiku Over ‘Dull Student’ Remark Against Tinubu

The Presidency has criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar for describing President Bola Tinubu as a dull student, citing the President’s first-class degree in accounting.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, made the remarks in a statement on Sunday while responding to Atiku’s criticism of the Federal Government’s handling of petrol prices.

Atiku had accused Tinubu of copying his proposed production subsidy policy but reducing it to a 30-day fuel discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Retail outlets.

Reacting, Dare said it was inappropriate for Atiku to describe Tinubu as dull, given the President’s academic qualification.

“It is sheer absurdity that a man who graduated from a school of hygiene dares to call a first-class accounting graduate a dull student,” the statement read.

The Presidency also rejected Atiku’s proposal for a production subsidy, arguing that Nigeria lacked sufficient uncommitted crude oil volumes to sustain such a policy.

Dare maintained that the government’s approach, including the temporary fuel discount and other energy measures, was intended to cushion the impact of fluctuations in global oil prices.

Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate for the 2027 election, had faulted the government’s economic policies, arguing that the short-term discount did not address the broader challenges facing Nigerians.