The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to release, where legally permissible, records relating to President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku said Nigerians had a democratic right to access information about the background and character of anyone seeking to retain the country’s highest elected office.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president said the FBI could protect sensitive law-enforcement information without withholding records that could legitimately be disclosed in the public interest.
His comments followed reports that the FBI had argued that releasing some records could endanger lives.
Questioning the scope of the justification, Atiku said Nigerians were already dealing with threats to their lives and livelihoods as a result of insecurity and economic hardship.
“The FBI says disclosure could endanger lives. Which lives? Nigerians are already dying,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Atiku also criticised the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, alleging that they had increased the cost of transportation, food, healthcare and other basic necessities.
“In the past three and a half years since President Tinubu became Nigeria’s President, he has pursued economic policies that have made his government a threat to the daily survival of ordinary Nigerians,” he said.
He cited terrorism, banditry, hunger, unaffordable healthcare and rising household expenses among the challenges facing Nigerians, claiming that some families that previously managed three meals a day were increasingly struggling to afford even one.
“Danger to life is therefore not a legal abstraction to Nigerians. It is a daily reality in our homes, hospitals, farms, highways and communities,” Atiku added.
‘Not a call to interfere in Nigeria’
The former vice-president said his appeal to the FBI was about democratic accountability rather than an attempt to involve the United States in Nigeria’s electoral affairs.
“Our demand of American law enforcement is not a call to interfere in Nigeria’s politics. It is a humanitarian and democratic appeal rooted in the principle that people have a right to information legitimately available about those who exercise enormous power over their lives,” he said.
Atiku maintained that Nigerians should be able to scrutinise the background of anyone occupying the presidency, particularly ahead of a general election.
He urged the FBI to release any information that could lawfully be disclosed without compromising investigations, confidential sources or other protected law-enforcement interests.
“If information can lawfully be released without endangering investigators, confidential sources or legitimate law-enforcement operations, release it,” he said.
“Nigerians are not asking America to conduct our democracy for us. We are saying that American secrecy laws must not inadvertently become a sanctuary from accountability in Nigeria.”
The controversy surrounding US records relating to President Tinubu has attracted renewed political attention as opposition parties intensify preparations for the 2027 presidential election.
The debate has also renewed broader questions about the balance between public access to information and the protection of confidential law-enforcement records.
