'Tinubu has made Buhari look like a saint' — Atiku's aide says president is a 360-degree failure

A top aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dropped a brutal verdict on President Bola Tinubu's government: it's made Muhammadu Buhari look like a saint.

Demola Olarewaju, Special Assistant on Digital Media Strategy to Atiku, made the comments on Vanguard's Politics Hub on Wednesday. He said Tinubu's biggest achievement is making Nigeria poorer, and that the president is completely out of touch with ordinary people.

"Tinubu's biggest achievement is making Nigeria poorer, and it's because of the instability of the economy," Olarewaju said. "Bola Tinubu has made poverty worse; he's made Buhari look like a saint."

Olarewaju said he initially couldn't understand why anyone would miss Buhari, whose eight-year tenure was marked by economic stagnation and widespread insecurity. But then he considered the price of petrol.

"The price I buy liters of petroleum under Buhari is now almost ten times costlier under Tinubu's government," he said. "That isn't friendly to my pocket and isn't friendly to the pocket of any Nigerian."

Petrol prices have skyrocketed since Tinubu removed the subsidy in May 2023. From around N200 per litre under Buhari, the product now sells for over N700 in many parts of the country, with some states seeing prices above N800.

Olarewaju also hit out at the government's handling of electricity. He criticised the banding system that divides consumers into Bands A, B, C, and D, with those in higher bands paying more for promised better supply.

"The electricity doesn't come," he lamented. He accused Tinubu of being insulated from the crisis, noting that the president took Aso Villa off the national grid. "He doesn't feel what Nigerians are feeling. Tinubu's biggest failure is his inability to connect with the everyday pains of Nigerians."

The electricity tariff hikes have been a major pain point. In April 2024, the government raised tariffs for Band A customers — those supposed to get 20 hours of power daily — by over 200 percent. But many households in that band still report erratic supply.

On security, Olarewaju painted a grim picture. He said bandits now operate in broad daylight as close as Oyo State, which borders Lagos. "Almost every state of the country now is under siege," he warned.

Insecurity has indeed worsened under Tinubu. Kidnapping for ransom has become a daily reality in many states, including the North-West, North-Central, and parts of the South-West. Armed gangs have targeted schools, highways, and even the capital city, Abuja.

Olarewaju summed up his assessment bluntly: "Tinubu has recorded zero achievement. There is no sector you can point to that he recorded any success. I refer to him as a 360 failure, that's why I feel he should be kicked out by 2027."

The 2027 election is already shaping up as a potential rematch between Tinubu and Atiku, who came second in 2023. Atiku, 79, hasn't officially declared his intention to run again, but his camp has been vocal in criticising Tinubu's policies.

Tinubu's supporters often point to his economic reforms — subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, and tax reforms — as necessary steps to fix long-standing problems. But critics say the reforms have been poorly implemented, causing untold hardship without visible benefits.

Whether Olarewaju's words will resonate with voters isn't clear yet. But the comparison to Buhari — a president widely criticised during his tenure — is a striking measure of how low public perception of Tinubu has fallen.