The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has criticised former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over his repeated reference to President Bola Tinubu simply as “Bola.”
Atiku used the President’s first name during a press conference in Abuja on Friday while urging Tinubu to consider government intervention to reduce the price of petrol and ease the financial burden on Nigerians.
Reacting in a post on his X account, Keyamo described Atiku’s manner of addressing the President as disrespectful and inappropriate.
Keyamo said political disagreements should not prevent public officials from showing respect to the office of the President.
“The continuous reference to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by His Excellency, ex Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in his press conference earlier today as ‘Bola’ is very disrespectful and discourteous,” Keyamo said.
He added that the presidency should be treated with dignity regardless of political differences.
“He should know better that no matter your differences with Mr President, for the sake of the country, that office should be accorded all the dignity it deserves,” the minister stated.
Keyamo also accused the former Vice-President of allowing personal grievances to influence his comments about Tinubu.
“The tone reeks of pain and bitterness in his heart,” he said.
The minister further questioned what he described as a contradiction in Atiku’s recent comments about the President’s age.
Keyamo noted that Atiku had recently claimed that Tinubu was older than him, arguing that it was inconsistent for him to subsequently address the President by his first name.
“After all, he made the outlandish claim the other day that Mr President is older than himself. It is therefore a contradiction that he would also refer to an ‘elder’ by his first name,” Keyamo added.
Atiku, during the Friday press conference, had urged Tinubu to implement his proposal for government intervention in the petrol market, saying the President could rename the initiative or take credit for it if doing so would make petrol more affordable.
The former Vice-President said his primary concern was reducing the hardship faced by Nigerians rather than who received credit for the policy.
“Bola Tinubu should not be ashamed to do what is necessary to lower the price of petrol simply because Atiku Abubakar proposed a government intervention,” Atiku said.
“He should just take the idea, rename it if he wishes, and even take the credit. What matters to me is that Nigerians pay less.”
