Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has described the leadership crisis at the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) as another disgraceful episode of the current administration in a growing catalogue of administrative confusion that has turned governance into a national spectacle.
Speaking on Thursday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the international embarrassment inflicted on Nigeria by the Tinubu administration’s serial governance blunders has become unbearable.
He warns that the country is increasingly being portrayed as a state where official pronouncements no longer command official obedience.
“How does a President publicly appoint a new head of a federal agency, yet weeks later the person said to have been replaced remains in office, continues to exercise authority, appears on the agency’s official website as its chief executive, and even holds official meetings with ministers? What exactly is the Presidency asking Nigerians and the international community to believe?
“The embarrassment is becoming too much for us as a nation. We cannot continue to market Nigeria as a serious investment destination while our own government cannot determine who heads one of its agencies. Every needless contradiction chips away at our national credibility. Investors are watching. Development partners are watching. The world is watching.”
Atiku noted that the confusion goes beyond personalities. He observed that while the Presidency announced both the outgoing and incoming officials as Director-General, the law establishing the BCDA provides for an Executive Secretary as the agency’s chief executive, a designation the agency itself still officially recognizes.
“This is not a mere typographical error. It raises legitimate questions about whether the appointment process was subjected to the most basic legal scrutiny before it was announced. Government is not conducted by guesswork.”
The former Vice President said the BCDA controversy is only the latest in a disturbing pattern of institutional disorder under the present administration. He recalled the confusion that engulfed the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), where conflicting claims over the leadership of the agency left Nigerians wondering which presidential directive was authentic.
He noted that the BCDA debacle also comes on the heels of a succession of avoidable controversies that have diminished public confidence in government.
“Nigerians have watched the confusion surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), where the Presidency first publicly distanced itself from the body before subsequently directing an investigation into the controversy surrounding it. The nation has equally witnessed persistent public questions over controversial budgetary allocations to agencies for projects that appear unrelated to their statutory mandates, as well as repeated policy reversals that have left citizens, investors and development partners uncertain about the direction of government.
“When one incident occurs, it may be dismissed as human error. When it happens repeatedly, it becomes evidence of systemic failure. From NIPOST to PFIPC and now BCDA, this administration has demonstrated an alarming inability to coordinate even routine governmental decisions. Governance has been reduced to improvisation, while Nigerians are left to bear the cost of the confusion. These are no longer isolated public relations mishaps; they point to a deeper crisis of coordination, competence and accountability at the highest levels of government.”
Atiku said the recurring crises suggest deeper problems within government, including weak institutional coordination, inadequate legal vetting, poor consultation, and a disregard for due process.
“A government that struggles to carry out a straightforward leadership transition within its own agencies cannot inspire confidence in its capacity to tackle insecurity, revive the economy, implement meaningful reforms, or manage the nation’s finances transparently. Competence is not proclaimed; it is demonstrated.”
He called on the Presidency to immediately clarify the legal status of the BCDA leadership, ensure that all future appointments strictly comply with the enabling laws establishing public institutions, and restore discipline to the machinery of government.
Atiku said the time has come for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to place the national interest above personal political ambition.
“Having presided over an administration that has lurched from one avoidable controversy to another, from policy reversals to institutional confusion, from worsening economic hardship to repeated governance failures, President Tinubu should take an honest look at the state of the nation and draw the only honourable conclusion. Rather than diverting public attention to an early re-election campaign, he should devote whatever remains of his tenure to addressing the pressing challenges confronting the nation or, better still, acknowledge that he has fallen short of the expectations of Nigerians and gracefully withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest.
“Nigeria cannot afford another four years of drift, confusion and avoidable embarrassment. The Presidency is a sacred public trust, not a personal entitlement. Every kobo of public resources should be directed towards improving the lives of Nigerians—not towards premature political campaigns while millions of citizens battle hunger, insecurity, unemployment and despair.
“History remembers leaders not for how desperately they sought to retain power, but for the wisdom they displayed in knowing when they had lost the confidence and goodwill of the people. For the sake of Nigeria’s future, President Tinubu should put the country first, abandon any re-election bid, and allow Nigerians the opportunity to choose a leadership capable of restoring competence, accountability, constitutional fidelity and hope to our beloved nation.”
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