Group Blasts Atiku Over ‘Inexperience’ Claim, Defends Jonathan’s Record

The Citizens Alliance for Transparent Leadership has issued a blistering rebuttal of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, accusing him of distorting history and attempting to diminish the legacy of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

The group’s reaction follows a statement by Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, on Wednesday, in which he described Jonathan’s presidency as a “product of inexperience” and attributed his 2015 electoral loss to that alleged shortcoming.

In a strongly worded statement jointly signed by its Convener, Musa Ibrahim, and Publicity Secretary, Oghenekaro Samuel, CATL dismissed the claim as “not just wrong, but mischievous.”

“Dr. Jonathan rose through every constitutional rung of leadership—Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice-President, and Acting President during a critical national period. To dismiss that trajectory as ‘inexperience’ is either a willful distortion of facts or a troubling misunderstanding of governance itself,” the group stated.

The organisation questioned the basis of Atiku’s criticism, noting that while Jonathan’s leadership was tested in office, Atiku’s experience at the presidential level remains untested.

“It is remarkable that someone whose ‘experience’ is largely defined by repeated ambition now seeks to diminish the record of a leader whose competence was tested in office, under pressure, and in full public view,” the statement added.

Highlighting Jonathan’s tenure, CATL pointed to key economic and structural reforms, insisting that Nigeria recorded measurable progress during the period.

“Under Dr. Jonathan, Nigeria did not drift—it advanced. The economy was rebased to become Africa’s largest, the power sector was unbundled, agricultural corruption networks were dismantled, and long-abandoned rail and road infrastructure were revived. These are verifiable milestones, not opinions,” the group said.

The organisation also underscored Jonathan’s 2015 concession as a defining moment in Nigeria’s democratic history.

“When faced with the choice between personal power and national peace, Dr. Jonathan chose Nigeria. His peaceful concession remains one of the most consequential acts of democratic leadership on the continent,” it noted.

Describing Atiku’s remarks as an attempt to “rewrite a lived national experience,” CATL said Nigerians are well aware of the realities of that period.

“To now reduce that legacy to ‘inexperience’ is not just ironic—it is an attempt to gaslight a nation that lived through and benefited from those years,” the statement read.

The group maintained that leadership should be judged by outcomes rather than rhetoric.

“If experience is the argument, then the distinction is clear: one man has a record that can be scrutinised; the other has a résumé of repeated attempts,” it said.

CATL concluded that Jonathan’s legacy remains firmly rooted in policy achievements, economic progress, and democratic stability.

“Dr. Jonathan’s record is written in results and national impact. No amount of political revisionism can erase it,” the group stated.