By: Adefemi Bayode Adebisi.

Brother Femi,

Let us begin with the thing that apparently has become the greatest constitutional crisis of October 2026.

Atiku Abubakar called the President, Bola

Not President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, not his Excellency, not mr President but

Bola

And somehow this is the great scandal
according to those who are presently trembling over the collapse of Nigerian civilisation

Not the price of food

Not the cost of petrol

Not the value of the naira

Not unemployment

Not insecurity

Not the purchasing power that has evaporated from the pockets of ordinary Nigerians

Not whether the government’s reforms have delivered the relief Nigerians were promised

No but the emergency is that Atiku Abubakar called the President by his first name

Apparently, Nigeria can survive hardship but it cannot survive the grammatical offence of Bola

This is what happens when an argument has run out of substance

THE GREAT CRIME OF SAYING BOLA

Let us be absolutely clear

Atiku Abubakar is entitled to criticise the President, he is entitled to challenge his policies, he is entitled to question his decisions, his reforms, his economic priorities and his record in office

That is not disrespect

That is democracy

The office of the President deserves respect but respect for an office cannot become immunity from criticism and the constitutional dignity of the Presidency cannot be converted into a political shield against scrutiny

If Atiku’s argument is wrong then defeat the argument

If his economic proposals are impossible, then it is advisable you explain why

If his manifesto is defective, identify the defects

If his numbers are wrong, produce better numbers

If his prescription for the petroleum sector cannot work, demonstrate precisely why

But if the strongest response available is

How dare you call him Bola?

then perhaps the problem is not Atiku’s language, absolutely the problem is the weakness of the answer to Atiku

THE HYPOCRISY OF SELECTIVE DECORUM

There is something almost theatrical about people suddenly discovering manners whenever Atiku speaks

The same political environment that tolerates brutal political language, personal attacks, mockery, insinuation and character assassination now wants Nigerians to believe that the first name Bola is beyond the boundaries of acceptable political discourse

Really?

If calling a sitting President Bola is supposedly an unforgivable insult, what then are we to make of calling Atiku a traitor, a thief, an opportunist, an ingrate, a man without loyalty, a man without honour and a person driven by pathological ambition?

Are those expressions the language of decorum?

Are they the language of constitutional respect?

Or does decorum become a sacred principle only when Atiku is the one being criticised?

You cannot demand civility from your opponent while abandoning civility yourself

You cannot build an entire article around the supposed indecency of one man’s vocabulary and then fill your own article with language designed to humiliate that same man

Chief, that is not moral consistency but a grave selective outrage.

THE OFFICE IS NOT THE MAN

There is another distinction that must be made

Tinubu occupies an office and for Atiku challenging and criticising the occupant does not mean desecrating the office

When Nigerians criticise the President, they are not necessarily attacking Nigeria but they are participating in the democratic process through which the Nigerian people retain the right to question those who govern them

It is important to remind you again that Presidency is not a throne

Nigeria as a nation is not a monarchy

And the President is not above political examination

If Atiku had called him Bola while standing in a courtroom and refusing to recognise the authority of the court, perhaps there would be a different argument

But this was a political address

He was speaking to Nigerians about the political leadership of Nigeria

The demand should therefore be simple

Answer the substance

ATIKU DOES NOT NEED A LESSON IN POLITICAL SCRUTINY

The attack then travels backwards into Atiku’s history

Obasanjo

Jonathan

Shettima

Deborah Samuel

2003 to 2007

And apparently everything that has ever happened in Atiku’s political life must now be resurrected because he reffered to the president by his first name BOLA

This is not political analysis but a character assassination dressed up as history

There is nothing wrong with examining Atiku’s record In fact, Nigerians should examine it ruthlessly

Atiku should be questioned

Tinubu should be questioned

Peter Obi should also be questioned

Every candidate seeking the Presidency should be questioned

But there is a difference between scrutiny and selective prosecution by paragraph, Chief

If Atiku’s conduct in 2003 is relevant, present the evidence and let Nigerians judge it

If his record concerning Jonathan is relevant, examine the complete context

If his position on Deborah Samuel is relevant, present the chronology and allow Nigerians to assess it

But none of these questions magically establishes that Atiku has forfeited his right to criticise the sitting government

THE SHEET THAT MATTERS IS THE ONE IN THE PUMP

It is too way embarassing and unfortunate that you want Nigerians to spend their time debating whether Atiku should have said President Bola Tinubu.

But Nigerians are having a different conversation whilst they are demanding that

What happened to the value of their money?

Why is transportation expensive?

Why is food expensive?

Why does petrol remain such a painful component of household expenditure?

Where are the benefits of the enormous fiscal savings Nigerians were told would result from reform?

Where is the social protection capable of cushioning the poorest citizens?

What happens to the Nigerian worker whose salary has not risen at the same speed as the cost of living?

These are not questions that disappear because Atiku used the President’s first name

The mother who cannot afford transport does not care whether Atiku says Bola or President Tinubu but she wants relief

The students that get worried about fees does not care about political etiquette but they wants opportunity

The trader whose capital has been destroyed by inflation does not care about titles but purchasing power is demanded

And the unemployed graduate does not wake up every morning wondering whether Atiku properly addressed the President but he is wondering of when his life will change

THE SUBSIDY QUESTION REMAINS

This is where the argument becomes even more revealing that the defenders of the current order would rather debate Atiku’s manners than engage the central economic question

Can government design a sustainable mechanism that protects Nigerians from extreme energy price shocks while simultaneously supporting domestic production and reducing waste?

That is and should be the question

Not Bola

Not Your Excellency

Not Waziri Adamawa

Not Kachalla

The petroleum subsidy debate is not a contest in honorifics and will not be, rather it is an economic debate

Atiku’s position which many Nigerians has been supporting is supposed be tested against reality

Can his proposed intervention work?

How much would it cost?

Who qualifies?

How will it be audited?

How will corruption be prevented?

How will domestic production be strengthened?

Those are legitimate questions

And Atiku should answer every one of them

But it is sad that the current administration are yet to provide answersto the below questions asked Nigerians

What has the removal of subsidy actually delivered to the ordinary Nigerian?

How much fiscal space was created?

Where did the savings go?

What measurable improvements in living standards have followed?

What protections were put in place for the poorest?

That is accountability you have failed to put in place whilst you are everywhere to celebrate decorum

DECORUM CANNOT BECOME A POLITICAL WEAPON

Atiku didnt insult the office of the President

And it is advised that the dignity of the office should become a weapon for silencing opposition

Democracy requires something much harder than politeness

It requires the capacity to hear criticism without collapsing into outrage

Atiku can be challenged

But it is indecorous to say he is disrespectful simply because his criticism is uncomfortable

And the President does not become immune from criticism simply because he occupies Aso Rock

There is a strange irony in all this

Those accusing Atiku of disrespect have produced an article overflowing with contempt for Atiku

They call him dishonest

They call him treacherous

They question his loyalty

They question his character

They question his faith

They question his ambition

They question his patriotism

And after all that, they arrive at the conclusion that Atiku calling him Bola is indecent

That is not an argument

That is a double standard wearing a necktie

ATIKU’S RECORD SHOULD BE JUDGED BY NIGERIANS

Let Atiku answer for his record

Let Tinubu answer for his record

Let every candidate answer for his record

If Atiku promises affordable fuel then ask how

If he promises economic reform, you need to ask how

Also ask, f he promises stronger institutions

he is an open man, If he promises to restore purchasing power, you can question it

Then take his answers to the ballot box

That is what democracy is for not a demand for political respect for a man who has failed the Nation

The Nigerian people do not need political priests to tell them which candidate deserves respect

Our ears are opened to listen

We can compare

We can remember

We can judge

And on 16 January 2027, we will vote

THE FINAL IRONY

Chief, there is a lesson here that you and those attacking Atiku appear determined not to learn

The louder you shout about the word Bola, the more you advertise your inability to answer the questions behind it

Atiku did not invent Nigeria’s hardship

He did not create inflation

He did not remove the purchasing power of the average Nigerian

Waziri did not determine the price of petrol after 29 May 2023

He did not design the present economic architecture but

He is an opposition politician challenging the government that did

That is his job

And if his challenge is wrong, the government has every instrument necessary to prove him wrong

Numbers, Policies, Results, Evidence and not outrage, not lectures on manners, not historical name calling, not an essay explaining why a first name is more offensive than economic hardship, Call him Atiku

Call him Waziri, call him former Vice President, call him presidential candidate

But when he speaks, answer what he says

And when Nigerians speak, listen to what they are saying, this is a siginifican advise because the Nigerian people are not standing in the queue at the petrol station wondering whether Atiku’s grammar offended the Presidency

They are asking a much more consequential question of

After all the reforms, where is the relief?

That is the question the next President of Nigeria will have to answer

And that is the question no amount of outrage over the word Bola can make disappear

Adefemi Bayode Adebisi
Social Media Firestorm Committee
The Narrative Force

#Atiku2027 #ADC #TheNarrativeForce