Atiku Fires Back at Tinubu Over Pension Claims, Defends Obasanjo-Era Reforms

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s recent remarks linking Nigeria’s pension challenges to the administration he served under, accusing the Federal Government of deflecting blame instead of addressing current governance issues.

The exchange follows comments by President Tinubu, who reportedly criticised the Obasanjo/Atiku administration for privatising government assets while leaving pensioners with unpaid entitlements. Tinubu made the remarks during a meeting with North-East political stakeholders led by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum.

Responding in a statement issued on Friday by his Media Office, Atiku described the President’s comments as an attempt to revive old political arguments rather than confront present-day realities. He argued that governments inherit both the achievements and liabilities of their predecessors and should focus on solving existing challenges instead of blaming past administrations.

“Both President Tinubu and his inept APC administration should seek more knowledge about good governance and developmental communication. Government is a continuum. The present helmsmen cannot continue to waste valuable national time and resources on ghosting and blaming past administrations. A successor must inherit assets and liabilities,” the statement read.

Atiku’s camp maintained that when the Olusegun Obasanjo administration assumed office in 1999, it inherited what it described as a severely underfunded and unsustainable pension system. According to the statement, the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) had accumulated pension liabilities estimated at more than ₦2 trillion, representing about a quarter of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the time.

Rather than focusing on the failings of previous governments, the former vice president said the administration introduced sweeping reforms that transformed Nigeria’s pension sector. Central to those efforts, the statement noted, was the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004, which established the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and created the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to regulate the system.

The statement further argued that the pension system before the 2004 reforms was plagued by poor record-keeping, ghost pensioners, bureaucratic delays and inadequate pension coverage, particularly for private sector workers. It claimed the reforms laid the foundation for a more transparent, fully funded and privately managed pension structure based on international best practices.

Atiku’s response marks the latest chapter in the growing war of words between the opposition figure and the Tinubu administration as political rhetoric continues to intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.