Tinubu, Atiku: How Political Brotherhood Turned Sour Amid Presidential Ambition
Tinubu, Atiku: How Political Brotherhood Turned Sour Amid Presidential Ambition
The political relationship between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was not always characterised by the fierce rivalry, accusations and electoral battles that have defined their relationship in recent years.
Long before they became leading figures on opposing sides of Nigeria’s struggle for political power, Tinubu and Atiku shared a political relationship that stretched across party lines and several decades.
Atiku once went as far as claiming that his friendship with Tinubu influenced a major political decision that helped Lagos remain outside the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the party’s sweeping victories across the South-West in the 2003 general election.
The revelation, made by Atiku in 2018, offers a striking contrast with the political rivalry that would later develop between the two men.
Atiku served as Vice President under President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, while Tinubu governed Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
At the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the AD controlled all six South-West states—Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti.
Four years later, the political landscape changed dramatically.
The PDP swept five of the six states, leaving Tinubu standing as the only AD governor in the region after the 2003 elections.
But according to Atiku’s account years later, Lagos could also have fallen.
Speaking in 2018, Atiku claimed he personally intervened to prevent the PDP machinery from being deployed to take Lagos from Tinubu.
He recalled telling then-President Obasanjo that Lagos should be left alone because of his longstanding political relationship with Tinubu.
According to Atiku, the relationship between the two politicians went back to their involvement in political movements and networks associated with the Social Democratic Party and the Peoples Democratic Movement.
Atiku said he had been given significant responsibility to expand the PDP’s influence across the South-West ahead of the 2003 election.
He claimed the operation succeeded everywhere except Lagos—not necessarily because Lagos was impossible to capture, but because he deliberately chose not to move against Tinubu.
“I stood between Obasanjo and himself [Tinubu] and said no, you can’t take over Lagos,” Atiku said in the 2018 remarks.
He further claimed: “I could easily have taken over Lagos, but I did not.”
Years later, however, Atiku publicly expressed regret over that decision and asked PDP members to forgive him for excluding Lagos from the party’s South-West political offensive.
That confession demonstrated just how dramatically political relationships can change when former allies begin pursuing competing ambitions.
The friendship between Atiku and Tinubu subsequently survived another major political realignment.
Ahead of the 2007 presidential election, Atiku joined the Action Congress after his bitter political confrontation with the Obasanjo administration and became the party’s presidential candidate.
Tinubu was one of the central figures behind the political platform.
Their paths would continue to cross as opposition politicians challenged the PDP’s dominance of national politics.
But Nigerian politics eventually transformed the old allies into direct competitors for the country’s highest office.
The defining moment came with the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, while Atiku again carried the PDP presidential ticket.
Two men whose political interests had once converged were now fighting for the same prize—the Presidency of Nigeria.
Tinubu eventually won the election and was declared President, while Atiku challenged the outcome through the courts.
The political battle did not end with the election.
Since Tinubu assumed office, Atiku has emerged as one of the administration’s most prominent opposition voices, repeatedly criticising its economic policies, governance decisions and handling of national issues.
The transformation is remarkable considering their political history.
At one point, according to Atiku’s own account, friendship was strong enough for him to protect Tinubu’s political territory when the PDP was sweeping through the South-West.
Today, both men represent competing political interests in a country already looking towards another presidential contest in 2027.
Their story consequently provides a revealing illustration of the fluid nature of Nigerian politics, where today’s ally can become tomorrow’s opponent and political coalitions can change rapidly as interests and ambitions evolve.
It would, however, be simplistic to attribute every disagreement between Tinubu and Atiku solely to personal ambition. Their rivalry has also been shaped by changing party affiliations, ideological positioning, alliances and the broader struggle for control of Nigeria’s political landscape.
But one fact remains difficult to ignore: the two political heavyweights who once shared a relationship strong enough to cross party boundaries eventually found themselves competing directly for the presidency.
Atiku’s 2018 recollection about Lagos therefore carries even greater historical significance today.
The Lagos he claimed he once spared became the political fortress from which Tinubu expanded his national influence, helped build formidable opposition coalitions and ultimately reached the Presidency.
Whether Atiku truly possessed the political capacity to deliver Lagos to the PDP in 2003 remains his own claim and a matter open to historical and political debate.
What is beyond dispute is that Lagos survived the PDP’s 2003 South-West sweep and became the foundation of Tinubu’s expanding political influence.
Two decades later, Tinubu occupied Aso Rock while Atiku remained one of his strongest political opponents.
It is a remarkable story of friendship, power and political ambition—a once formidable bond transformed by the relentless contest for Nigeria’s highest office.
