A senior aide to President Bola Tinubu, Fredrick Nwabufo, has criticised Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), over his comments on an ongoing legal case involving Tinubu in a United States court.
The dispute centres on a request for the release of records linked to investigations allegedly involving the Nigerian president.
Tinubu, who joined the case as an intervenor, recently asked a US district court to reject a request by Aaron Greenspan for the release of the records.
The president also asked the court to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to continue withholding some records and keeping parts of already released documents redacted.
Obi criticised Tinubu’s position in a statement titled “A President and the Endless Question of His Past”.
He urged the president to address questions about his past instead of trying to prevent the release of records that he described as being of public interest.
However, Nwabufo, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement, described Obi’s comments as “ludicrous”.
In a post on X on Monday, Nwabufo said the allegations surrounding the US case had already been investigated and dismissed.
“Mr Obi @PeterObi, it is important that disciplined conversations guide the campaigns and that ideas remain the thrust of engagement,” Nwabufo wrote.
“In response to your ludicrous claims. There is no so-called ‘imperfect past’. The issues have been routinely investigated and found to be patently false and libelous and have even been determined by the highest court of the land.
“This refrain is a tired and expired one, regurgitated every election cycle from the bowels of a failing and failed opposition who have nothing to campaign with but slander and slurs.”
Nwabufo also turned his criticism to Obi’s tenure as governor of Anambra State.
He accused the former governor of poor leadership and listed several problems he claimed occurred during Obi’s administration.
“Your past, Mr Obi, particularly as governor of Anambra, is a chequered and inglorious one defined by religious segregation between Catholics and Anglicans, kidnappings, strikes by teachers, doctors, and the judiciary, as well as extra-judicial killings at an unprecedented scale, including poor and decaying infrastructure; roads that become flatulent after three months,” Nwabufo wrote.
The presidential aide said politicians should focus on issues that matter to Nigerians as the 2027 election approaches.
He questioned Obi on what he could present to Nigerians as a reason for them to support his political ambition.