Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has directly challenged the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over its decision to withhold records concerning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying the agency's claim that disclosure would "endanger lives" rings hollow against the daily suffering of ordinary Nigerians.
Atiku Challenges FBI's 'Danger to Lives' Argument
In a statement sent to Legit.ng on Saturday, August 22, 2026, signed by Phrank Shaibu, Atiku's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Atiku said the FBI's position deserved scrutiny. "The FBI says disclosure could endanger lives. Which lives? Nigerians are already dying," the statement read.
He pointed to the consequences of Tinubu's removal of the fuel subsidy as evidence of a governance crisis that has cost Nigerian lives, describing families that once managed three meals a day now struggling for one, parents unable to afford medicine for sick children, and breadwinners collapsing under debt.
Atiku was careful to clarify that his demand of the FBI was not a call to expose agents, confidential sources, or sensitive investigative techniques. He said the agency should redact whatever American law genuinely requires, but argued that those protections must not be stretched to shield Tinubu from legitimate accountability.
Atiku Defends Fuel Subsidy Pledge
Atiku also used the statement to respond to criticism of his plan to restore the fuel subsidy, saying the policy was non-negotiable and rooted in the realities of Nigerian household economics.
He said any subsidy under his administration would be targeted, transparently financed, capped, and independently audited with safeguards against corruption and diversion. He argued that fuel prices affect transportation, which affects food costs, which determines whether an ordinary Nigerian family survives the month.
Atiku closed his message to the FBI with a direct appeal: "Protect your investigators. Protect your sources. Protect your methods. But do not protect the truth from Nigerians. Our people are already paying for bad governance with their lives."
He described the push for disclosure not as foreign interference in Nigerian politics but as a democratic and humanitarian appeal grounded in the principle that citizens have the right to know the history and character of those who hold power over their lives.
Atiku Abubakar served as Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 and contested the 2027 presidential election as the candidate of the African Democratic Congress before resigning from the party on May 2, 2026.
