Atiku Abubakar, Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, and the All Progressives Congress

They stole the election. Now they have stolen the economy. They have stolen everything, Atiku said.

He also renewed his pledge to restore the petrol subsidy if elected in 2027, dismissing suggestions that his position had been contradicted by Paul Ibe, one of his aides. However, Alhaji Bala Ibrahim, APC National Director of Publicity, challenged Atiku to substantiate his allegations in court rather than making sweeping accusations against the government and its officials. Speaking to BusinessDay in a telephone interview, Ibrahim said Atiku's claims should be subjected to judicial scrutiny if the former vice-president genuinely believed that crimes had been committed.

"By that statement, the former vice-president and presidential candidate of the ADC is not passing a vote of no confidence on the judiciary. If he is not doing so, then I advise that he takes his case to court." If he has confidence in the judiciary, he should go to court and prove the allegations he made against the people he is competing with, Ibrahim said. He also said allegations of criminal conduct should not be made without evidence, challenging Atiku to demonstrate his claims before the appropriate authorities.

"If you accuse some people of committing an offence and you believe in the judiciary, you should not just make the allegations in the comfort of your room, but go to court and prove your case." That way, everyone will believe you and know that, yes, you are actually someone who has the country at heart, Ibrahim added. He also demanded clarification and evidence for Atiku's claim that the Nigerian economy had been "stolen" by those in government. "He has to come forward with proof, with evidence, Ibrahim said.

"When you say this economy is stolen, is he saying things are being done in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution? Or is he saying the people that are in power don't have the mandate to make laws or utilise the resources of the country for the benefit of the country? he queried.

According to Ibrahim, elected governments possess the constitutional authority to deploy public resources in implementing policies and programmes, arguing that such expenditure cannot simply be characterised as theft without evidence of wrongdoing. "You have to say exactly what you mean. You can't just make such a blanket allegation without substantiation.

Anybody who is elected to serve has been given the power and authority to use the resources of the country, and of the office he occupies, to do things for the benefit of the people," he said. Ibrahim insisted that the Tinubu administration was operating within the mandate given to it by Nigerians. "And that is exactly what the government is doing." Unless he is saying the government is acting without the mandate given to it, or it was not given any mandate at all, Ibrahim added.