Politics
Atiku’s Travels Abroad Worry PDP Leaders, Stakeholders
More than three weeks after travelling out of Nigeria to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Presidential Candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has travelled to the United Kingdom (UK).
With crisis in the PDP, most stakeholders in the party are said to be worried that Atiku, who they believed should be at the forefront of meetings with aggrieved leaders of the party like the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and others, has been out of the country since June.
Some are said to have started making reference to how the former Vice President left Nigeria for Dubai immediately after the 2019 general elections.
It would be recalled that Atiku, jetted out of the country in April 2021 and remained in the UAE and spent over seven months before returning to the country.
Sources disclosed to The Tide source that the former Vice President, who has been in Dubai for more than three weeks, has moved to UK for his Master’s Degree convocation.
The PDP presidential candidate had in November 2021, passed his Masters in International Relations degree programme at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) will hold its graduation ceremonies in Chelmsford, Cambridge and Peterborough from Monday, 11 July until Friday, 29 July.
Some leaders of the PDP who preferred anonymity told our source that it will be unexplainable if Atiku does not return to Nigeria early this week for the Osun State governorship election.
“He was not in Ekiti, won’t he be in Osun too? How are we going to explain his absence? Or is it that he does not understand the importance of the Ekiti and Osun elections? May be he is feeling that after winning the primary, he has automatically won the main election,” a PDP leader who is from Plateau State lamented.
A lot of concerned party faithful are also said to be wondering how Atiku will be away in a time like this, which is the last Sallah celebration before the 2023 general elections.
A former member of the party’s National Working Committee said he was getting worried that even “during Sallah celebration, our presidential candidate, a Muslim, is not here to celebrate with our people. This is not too good because there is no other Eid-el-Kabir festival before the election in February, next year.
The former NWC member himself and many of his colleagues are worried because “if this level of disenchantment by the former Vice President is allowed to grow beyond this level, it will be difficult to handle.”
He lamented that the attitude and language of people around Atiku are not at all complimentary, adding that they appeared to be acting like they have won election already.
“Well meaning stakeholders of the party should wade in now so that we won’t have a repeat of 2015 and 2019,” he concluded.
The Senate yesterday received the 2026-2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper from President Bola Tinubu, marking the formal launch of the 2026 federal budget cycle.
In a letter addressed to the upper chamber, Tinubu said the submission complies with statutory requirements and sets out the fiscal parameters that will guide the preparation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
He explained that the MTEF/FSP outlines the macroeconomic assumptions, revenue projections, and spending priorities that will shape Nigeria’s fiscal direction over the next three years.
The letter was read during plenary by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who urged lawmakers to expedite consideration of the document.
“It is with pleasure that I forward the 2026 to 2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for the kind consideration and approval of the Senate.
“The 2026 to 2028 MTEF and FSP were approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting of December 3, 2025, and the 2026 budget of the Federal Government will be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions therein,” the President stated.
Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved the fiscal projections, pegging the oil benchmark price at $64.85 per barrel and adopting a budget exchange rate of ?1,512/$1 for 2026—figures expected to significantly shape revenue forecasts and expenditure planning.
After reading the President’s letter, Jibrin referred the document to the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), with a directive to submit its report by Wednesday, December 17.
The Senate adjourned shortly after to allow committees to commence scrutiny of the fiscal framework and continue the ongoing screening of ambassadorial nominees.
Tinubu’s communication to the Senate came less than 24 hours after he transmitted the same MTEF/FSP documents to the leadership of the House of Representatives.
The letter was read on the House floor by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who also urged timely legislative action as required by law.
The MTEF and FSP are statutory instruments mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and serve as the blueprint for Nigeria’s annual budgets.
They outline the government’s fiscal stance, macroeconomic assumptions, revenue frameworks, projected deficits, and sectoral priorities over a three-year period.
The Tide reports that approval by the National Assembly is a prerequisite for the executive to present the Appropriation Bill for the next fiscal year.
In a statement on Saturday, the former Senate Leader stated that the allocation of nominees across states and geopolitical zones falls short of the constitutional requirement for fair representation in the composition of the Federal Government.
The ex-Senate Whip warned that allowing the list to pass could deepen ethnic suspicion at a time when the administration should be consolidating national unity.
He highlighted disparities in the spread of nominees, noting that while some states have three or four slots, others have none. He also cited the inclusion of Senator Adamu Garba Talba from Yobe, who reportedly died in July.
“The entire North-East states have seven nominees in the list. Further checks revealed that the South-West geo-political zone has 15 nominees, while North-West and South-East have 13 and 9, respectively.
“North-Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominee while South-South parades 12 nominees,” Senator Ndume said.
According to him, such imbalances could heighten tensions and undermine Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
“My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical juncture in his administration, he should avoid missteps that could undermine national unity and foster ethnic distrust.
“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholder in the country. He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on the Federal Character Principle,” Senator Ndume added.
He accused the legislators of undermining the sanctity of the legislature and acting as instruments of destabilization.
“The members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have, by their actions since they assumed office, shown that they are political puppets and a clog in the wheels of democratic progress,” Comrade Ememobong stated, adding that “They will go down in history as enemies of democracy and those who made mockery of the legislature.”
“So the easiest way to describe their action is a defection from APC to APC,” he said.
Comrade Ememobong announced that the party would deploy constitutional provisions to reclaim its mandate from those who have “ignobly and surreptitiously” abandoned the platform on which they were elected.
“Consequently, the PDP will take legal steps to activate the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) to recover the mandate gained under the banner of our party which these people have now switched to another platform,” he said.
He urged party members in Rivers State to remain calm and steadfast.
“We urge all party members in Rivers State to remain faithful and resolute, as efforts are underway to rebuild the party along the path of inclusiveness, fairness and equity,” Comrade Ememobong assured.
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