Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode has criticised the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, over his refusal to address President Bola Tinubu by his official title during his October 1 Independence Day address.
Fani-Kayode said he was tempted to refer to Atiku as “Kachalla” in response to the former vice president’s repeated reference to Tinubu as “Bola.”
In a statement posted on X on Sunday, Fani-Kayode described Atiku’s Independence Day address as “intellectually-flawed, highly disrespectful, inherently dishonest and utterly bereft of decency and logic.”
He said: “Worse still you refused to address @officialABAT as ‘President’ but rather continuously and contemptuously referred to him by his first name ‘Bola’.
“Surely this level of pettiness is below even you. Yet despite this provocation I will not refer to you as ‘Kachalla’ and accord you the respect that I still think you deserve.”
Fani-Kayode cited former Special Adviser on Political Affairs to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akin Osuntokun, who had also criticised Atiku for repeatedly referring to Tinubu by his first name.
According to Fani-Kayode, Osuntokun argued that although Atiku was entitled to criticise Tinubu, repeatedly calling the President “Bola” was disrespectful and amounted to a lack of decorum.
Fani-Kayode said Osuntokun was right, but added that he was not surprised by Atiku’s conduct, citing what he described as the former vice president’s past confrontations with political leaders.
He accused Atiku of betraying Obasanjo shortly after they assumed office in 1999 and conspiring with some governors to challenge Obasanjo’s leadership ahead of the 2003 election.
Fani-Kayode also accused Atiku of publicly insulting Obasanjo between 2003 and 2007 and attempting to justify his opposition to the former president on the grounds of a third-term agenda.
He further criticised Atiku for recently describing former President Goodluck Jonathan as an “inexperienced young man” who made mistakes and was unable to properly manage the country’s affairs.
According to Fani-Kayode, Atiku had also criticised Vice President Kashim Shettima after the latter challenged him to account for his tenure in office and his contributions to the people since entering politics.
Fani-Kayode questioned Atiku’s reference to northern culture when responding to Shettima, recalling his own allegations against Atiku over his relationship with Obasanjo.
He also accused the former vice president of failing to demonstrate the values of “decency, restraint, patience, humility, good manners, faith in God, loyalty, fortitude, kindness, generosity, charity, compassion and honour” which he said were associated with northern culture.
The former Minister of Aviation also cited the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel, a Christian student who was lynched and burnt by a mob in Sokoto State after being accused of blasphemy.
Fani-Kayode alleged that Atiku initially posted a condolence message following the killing but later deleted it, accusing him of subsequently denying that he had removed the post.
He further accused Atiku of being driven by an “inordinate ambition” and a “pathological obsession” with power.
