Atiku Begins Pre-Election Ritual, To Denounce Tinubu’s Performance In U.S.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has confirmed plans for another visit to the United States ahead of the 2027 election cycle.

According to him, the trip will focus on Nigeria’s worsening security, governance and economic conditions.

The planned visit, which comes about 8 months to the 2027 presidential election, follows a similar pattern as his 2019 and 2022 U.S. trips.

Speaking through his media adviser, Paul Ibe, on Sunday, Atiku said the trip is “driven by one overriding concern: the alarming deterioration of security, governance, and economic stability in Nigeria.”

The 2027 presidential hopeful said Nigeria is facing “a full-blown internal crisis” that could no longer be “downplayed, politicized, or explained away.”

He mentioned violence in the North-West, North-East, and Middle Belt as evidence that Nigeria is experiencing “a pattern of systemic failure” rather than isolated incidents.

“Communities are being overrun, livelihoods destroyed, and citizens abandoned to their fate,” Ibe said, adding that “any government that cannot guarantee basic security forfeits the moral basis of its mandate.”

On Economy, Atiku said rising inflation, a weakened naira and declining purchasing power has left millions of Nigerians in distress.

“Nigerians are not just tired, they are being stretched to the limits of endurance,” the statement added.

He also warned that declining public confidence in governance and the country’s electoral process “poses a direct threat to national stability.”

The statement added, “As the country moves toward another election cycle, he insists that any attempt to undermine transparency or manipulate outcomes will carry serious consequences for both unity and legitimacy.

“Addressing the anticipated criticism of his international engagement, Atiku is unequivocal: telling the truth about Nigeria is not unpatriotic. He rejects the notion that engaging global partners amounts to inviting foreign interference, stressing that Nigeria does not exist in isolation and cannot pretend that its internal failures have no external implications. He maintains that the world already sees what is happening; the real question is whether Nigerian leaders are prepared to confront it honestly.

“He reiterates that only Nigerians will decide Nigeria’s leadership, but insists that international partners have a legitimate interest in the stability, governance standards, and democratic health of a country as strategically important as Nigeria.”

According to him, responsible leadership welcomes scrutiny as a pathway to improvement.

“In a direct message to the current administration, Atiku warns against complacency and deflection. He states that power is not an entitlement but a responsibility, and that Nigerians expect results, not explanations. He calls on the government to urgently reset its priorities, restore public confidence, and demonstrate a clear, credible strategy for addressing insecurity and economic decline.

“To Nigerians, he delivers a blunt reminder: no nation survives in silence. He urges citizens to remain vigilant, engaged, and unyielding in their demand for accountability, emphasizing that real change will not come from outside the country but from the collective will of its people….The choice, he says, is between confronting hard truths now or allowing the country to drift further into instability. For him, the moment demands courage, honesty, and decisive leadership, anything less would be a disservice to the nation and its future.”

Atiku’s last confirmed U.S. visit was in October 2022, when he travelled to Washington, D.C. during his campaign for the 2023 presidential election as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

During the visit, he met U.S. officials, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, businessmen and members of the Nigerian diaspora.

In January 2019, he visited the U.S. ahead of Nigeria’s presidential election. It was his first trip in 13 years after a reported U.S. visa ban linked to a corruption probe into allegations of bribery during his time as vice president.