Special Adviser on Media & Public Communication President Bola Tinubu, Sunday Dare, has criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his recent comments on the economy, accusing him of attempting to divert attention from issues surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project. Dare made the remarks in a post on X on……
Special Adviser on Media & Public Communication President Bola Tinubu, Sunday Dare, has criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his recent comments on the economy, accusing him of attempting to divert attention from issues surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
Dare made the remarks in a post on X on Friday, while reacting to the recent International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration ruling on the long-running dispute involving Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and the Federal Government.
TVC News Online reports that an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal sitting in Paris on Thursday, September 17, 2026, issued an award rejecting Sunrise Power’s claims against the Federal Republic of Nigeria over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.
Dare said, “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s recent theatrical press conference, characterised by haughty condescension and an unbecoming disregard for the high office of the President of Nigeria, is nothing short of self-deprecation.”
He alleged that the former vice-president was attempting to divert attention from the findings and issues surrounding the Mambilla project.
“Stripped of its populist posturing, Atiku’s outburst is a transparent attempt to launder his public image and distract a discerning populace from the suffocating weight of his past,” he said.
Dare’s comments followed reports on the ICC tribunal’s consideration of a $500,000 payment made by Sunrise Power promoter Leno Adesanya to an ex-wife of Atiku’s in January 2003.
Read Also:Mambilla Dispute: APC Campaign Council Calls On Atiku To Quit 2027 Race
According to the tribunal award, Adesanya acknowledged making the transfer but the tribunal, said it could not accept the explanation because it was not supported by documentary evidence.
The tribunal also said the circumstances surrounding the payment raised “significant red flags”, but expressly stated that there was no evidence before it that Atiku had actually exercised his official duties in a manner that facilitated the award of the Mambilla contract.
Dare accused Atiku of preaching unsolicited economic sermons during his press conference on Friday instead of the Mambilla Hydro Power contract.
He further alleged that the Mambilla project was used for private interests rather than national development.
“The Mambilla Hydro Power Project, which should have been a cornerstone of Nigeria’s industrial capacity and a lifeline for Taraba State, was weaponised as a vehicle for private accumulation,” Dare said.
Dare also referenced the financial exposure Nigeria faced in the arbitration, following the rejection of claims associated with the project.
The ICC tribunal rejected Sunrise Power’s claims against Nigeria, including claims relating to a $200 million settlement and additional compensation. The total potential exposure in the related claims was reported at more than $3.38 billion.
Dare said the outcome should prompt questions about the history of the project and the conduct of those involved.
He also criticised Atiku’s recent interventions on economic policy and his comments about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
“Nigerians do not need lectures on fiscal management from a political wanderer whose decades-long pursuit of the presidency has been defined by perpetual opportunism,” Dare wrote.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing the heavy, foundational lifting required to restructure an economy crippled by decades of structural inertia and subsidy hemorrhaging.”
Dare further questioned Atiku’s record in government, referring to his former role as Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and his involvement in economic affairs.
“If his past stewardship as Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and overseer of the nation’s economy is any metric, his blueprint is already an open book, one annotated with controversies, privatisations of public patrimony, and international inquiries,” he said.
He called on Atiku to respond to questions surrounding the Mambilla controversy.
“Atiku Abubakar must understand a fundamental truth: political power in a modern democracy is anchored on moral authority. He cannot bypass accountability, wave away judicial and arbitral indictments in foreign capitals, and expect Nigerians to embrace him as an alternative.
“Before he presumes to school the administration on how to run a nation, he must first answer the lingering, unpalatable questions of his past. Let him save his unsolicited blueprints for a mirror; Nigeria has looked past the Mambilla mirage, and it will not return to the Egypt of calculated economic pillaging,” he maintained.
