Presidential Pardon saga: Lagos APC blasts Atiku’s media team for ‘political tantrums’

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has fired back at the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Phrank Shaibu, over his recent criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the Maryam Sanda pardon issue.

In a strongly worded statement on Thursday, the APC described Shaibu’s outburst as “a cocktail of ignorance, frustration, and political bitterness from a camp desperate for attention.”

The opposition aide had accused Tinubu of inconsistency following the revocation of a presidential pardon initially extended to Sanda and other convicts.

Responding, the Lagos APC spokesperson, Mogaji Seye Oladejo, said Atiku’s media handlers had continued to “weaponise ignorance” in their desperation to stay politically relevant.

“Leadership is not noise but responsibility,” Oladejo stated.

“Unlike the impulsive and uninformed commentary that has become the trademark of the opposition, President Tinubu’s decisions are driven by due process, rule of law, and national interest.”

He added that informed review and reconsideration were hallmarks of mature democracy, not signs of indecision.

“In advanced democracies, informed review and reconsideration are marks of credible leadership and institutional maturity, not weakness. Only in the shallow corners of the opposition’s imagination does consultation and constitutional refinement translate to a ‘U-turn’,” he added.

Oladejo said the Nigerian public had grown weary of “infantile, bitterness-driven politics”, stressing that Tinubu’s administration remained focused on governance, not political bickering.

“The Nigerian public is weary of this infantile, bitterness-driven politics – where sound governance decisions are attacked for the sake of noise-making.
President Tinubu is strengthening institutions, not pandering to emotion or social media theatrics. While responsible leaders build, petty politicians rant,”
he said.

The APC spokesman maintained that President Tinubu’s leadership style would continue to be anchored on constitutional discipline, courage, and clarity of purpose, principles he said the opposition could learn from.

“We urge Nigerians to ignore the latest media convulsions from a defeated politician’s corner.
President Tinubu will continue to lead with constitutional discipline, courage, and clarity of purpose – not the bitterness and confusion that have become hallmarks of those rejected repeatedly at the polls,” Oladejo declared.

He concluded that Nigeria was moving forward, insisting that no amount of political tantrums would derail the administration’s reforms.

“Nigeria is moving forward, and no amount of political tantrums will change that reality,” he added.