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By Newspot Nigeria Politics Desk
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a blistering attack on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following news that U.S. President Donald Trump will host five African leaders at the White House on July 9 — with Nigeria glaringly absent from the list.
The leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal are scheduled to attend high-level talks on “commercial opportunities.” But the nation once seen as Africa’s diplomatic anchor — and its largest economy — has been left out, a move Atiku’s camp calls “a disgrace of historic proportions.”
In a strongly worded statement issued Friday by Phrank Shaibu, Special Adviser to Atiku, the former Vice President says Nigeria’s exclusion is not a clerical error but a damning global verdict on Tinubu’s failed foreign policy, crumbling ECOWAS leadership, and diplomatic irrelevance.
“From Giant of Africa to diplomatic ghost — Tinubu has finished the job,” Atiku declared through his aide. “He has squandered our legacy, diluted our stature, and silenced our voice on the world stage.”
The statement highlights how Nigeria under Tinubu has lost regional clout, citing the withdrawal of three member states from ECOWAS and the collapse of Nigeria’s influence in global forums. Atiku, who led Nigeria’s opposition in the 2023 election, accuses Tinubu of turning the country from a respected continental leader to a bystander in strategic global dialogues.
💸 “While others are summoned to negotiate Africa’s future, Nigeria is not even in the room,” the statement reads. It also rebukes the long-standing claim that Nigerian businessman Gilbert Chagoury has access to Trump’s circle, calling it a “mirage” rooted in outdated Clinton-era affiliations.
Shaibu, speaking for Atiku, contrasted the administration’s lavish lifestyle abroad with the economic pain at home, noting that Nigeria’s foreign direct investment has plunged, while senior government officials “lounge in St. Lucia, sipping champagne in the face of national decline.”
The statement ends with a rallying cry to Nigerians, declaring that only a broad opposition coalition — including the African Democratic Congress (ADC) — can “rescue Nigeria from these urban bandits.”
Read the full statement below, exactly as released by Atiku’s office:
TINUBU’S FAILURE IS COMPLETE: NIGERIA SIDELINED BY TRUMP
Statement by Phrank Shaibu, Special Adviser to Atiku Abubakar
On July 9, 2025, President Donald Trump will host five African leaders at the White House to discuss “commercial opportunities.” The invited nations are Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal.
Not Nigeria. Not the continent’s most populous nation, the Giant of Africa which had an economy of $500bn and was among the world’s five fastest growing economies before the cancer called the All Progressives Congress inflicted this blessed nation.
This exclusion by the Trump administration is not a diplomatic oversight. It is not a scheduling error. It is a verdict — scathing in symbolism and staggering in implication. A verdict on Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s chaotic presidency, his divisive chairmanship of ECOWAS, and the complete evaporation of Nigeria’s diplomatic relevance.
How do we explain it? Tinubu inherited an ECOWAS of 15 member states and left it gasping for breath with three countries pulling out and 40% of its land mass gone. Once Africa’s diplomatic compass — the nation that gave weight to regional consensus and global negotiations — Nigeria has now become an afterthought. Ignored. Sidelined. Stripped of influence. While others are summoned to negotiate Africa’s future, Nigeria is not even in the room.
And while our Foreign Direct Investment has plunged to historic lows, Tinubu’s men lounge in St. Lucia, sipping champagne in the face of national decline. South Africa is negotiating trade frameworks with Washington. Nigeria is invisible.
And let’s now kill the lie that’s been allowed to linger for too long: Gilbert Chagoury is not a Trump ally. He does not hold the keys to the White House. He has no diplomatic leverage in the Trump administration, having been listed as one of the major donors to the Clinton foundation.
The illusion of his influence has collapsed under the weight of reality. Nigeria wagered its international standing on a mirage — and lost.
As chair of ECOWAS, Tinubu did not build bridges; he burnt them. His erratic, self-serving approach fractured regional cooperation, turning Nigeria into a polarizing force rather than a rallying point.
From Giant of Africa to diplomatic ghost — Tinubu has finished the job. He has squandered our legacy, diluted our stature, and silenced our voice on the world stage.
This isn’t just an embarrassment. It is a disgrace — a resounding declaration that Nigeria, under this administration, has lost its way.
But let it be known: we will not mourn in silence. We will not be complicit in our own erasure.
Well, we are glad that the coalition through the ADC is here to rescue Nigeria from these urban bandits. The damage is deep — but so is our resolve. And the mission to reclaim Nigeria’s honour has already begun.
History may not be kind to this government. But history will remember who stood up to end it.
Signed:
Phrank Shaibu
Special Adviser to Atiku Abubakar
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