BCDA: Tinubu should resign – Atiku reacts as Wike’s ally refuses to vacate seat after removal

The former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the leadership crisis that is rocking the Border Communities Development Agency, BCDA.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, announced the replacement of Federal Capital Territory minister Nyesom Wike-backed Dakorinama Alabo George with former House of Representatives member, Abdulrazak Sa’ad Namdas as the Director General of BCDA. However, weeks after, George has continued to serve as the BCDA DG.

Reacting in a statement on Thursday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the crisis shows that President Tinubu is no longer in control of the country’s leadership.

According to him, the crisis at BCDA is another disgraceful episode in a growing catalogue of administrative confusion that has turned governance into a national spectacle.

He said President Tinubu should waste no time withdrawing from the 2027 presidential election.

“How does a president publicly appoint a new head of a federal agency, yet weeks later the person said to have been replaced remains in office, continues to exercise authority, appears on the agency’s official website as its chief executive, and even holds official meetings with ministers? What exactly is the Presidency asking Nigerians and the international community to believe?

“The embarrassment is becoming too much for us as a nation. We cannot continue to market Nigeria as a serious investment destination while our own government cannot determine who heads one of its agencies.

“Every needless contradiction chips away at our national credibility. Investors are watching. Development partners are watching. The world is watching.”
He called on the presidency to immediately clarify the legal status of the BCDA leadership.

“Having presided over an administration that has lurched from one avoidable controversy to another, from policy reversals to institutional confusion, from worsening economic hardship to repeated governance failures, President Tinubu should take an honest look at the state of the nation and draw the only honourable conclusion.

“Rather than diverting public attention to an early re-election campaign, he should devote whatever remains of his tenure to addressing the pressing challenges confronting the nation or, better still, acknowledge that he has fallen short of the expectations of Nigerians and gracefully withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest”, he stated.