Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, has criticised the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, over his repeated reference to President Bola Tinubu as “Bola” in his October 1 Independence Day address.
Fani-Kayode said he was tempted to respond by referring to the former vice president as “Kachalla” but chose not to do so.
In a statement posted on X on Sunday, Fani-Kayode described Atiku’s Independence Day address as “intellectually flawed, highly disrespectful, inherently dishonest and utterly bereft of decency and logic.”
He particularly faulted Atiku for failing to address Tinubu as President while repeatedly using the president’s first name.
He said, “Worse still you refused to address @officialABAT as ‘President’ but rather continuously and contemptuously referred to him by his first name ‘Bola’.”
Fani-Kayode added, “Surely this level of pettiness is below even you. Yet despite this provocation I will not refer to you as ‘Kachalla’ and accord you the respect that I still think you deserve.”
The ambassador also cited criticism of Atiku by former Special Adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on Political Affairs, Akin Osuntokun, who had similarly faulted the former vice president for repeatedly referring to Tinubu as “Bola.”
According to Fani-Kayode, Osuntokun argued that Atiku was entitled to criticise the President but that repeatedly calling him by his first name was disrespectful and lacked decorum.
Fani-Kayode said he agreed with Osuntokun but claimed he was not surprised by Atiku’s conduct, citing what he described as previous confrontations between the former vice president and political leaders.
