According to a report by Channels Television, on Monday November 2, 2026, the political atmosphere in Nigeria has grown increasingly tense as the opposition steps up its criticism of President Bola Tinubu.
Following the President’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage), Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communication to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, launched a scathing attack on the administration.
Speaking during an interview, Shaibu dismissed claims that the visit carried any special spiritual endorsement for a second term, questioning the moral authority and sincerity of the President’s faith.
Addressing the presidency’s framing of the trip, Shaibu accused the administration of politicizing a sacred religious journey.
He argued that public funds were being used to orchestrate political optics while millions of Nigerians grapple with severe economic hardship.
“As for President Bola Tinubu, does he have the sincerity of faith? If he had sincerity of faith, he will not keep a fellow Muslim in Nasiru El-Rufai over minor political disagreement in detention perpetually and given respect,” Shaibu stated.
When the interviewer interjected, suggesting that judicial conditions and court processes were responsible, Shaibu sharply pushed back, citing instances where the executive branch has previously intervened in legal matters.
“Oh no, with profound respect when you give conditions… but that was the court, that’s the judiciary. No, no, no, the president—you see, we have seen the president intervene even in judicial matters.”
He added; “You remember that within the period Nasiru El-Rufai lost his mother he gave an order that he should be released? That was not the court, that was not the court. So he knows what to do; the conditions they gave for his bail are obnoxious, completely obnoxious. That is a fellow Muslim.”
