Atiku Abubakar Demands Accountability for Lekki Toll Gate Shooting
Atiku Abubakar demanded answers regarding the 2020 Lekki shooting, prompting a response from the presidency accusing him of political insincerity.
On the sixth anniversary of the 2020 #EndSARS protests, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress and former Vice President, demanded accountability from the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding the shooting of protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate. Abubakar questioned who authorized the violence and criticized President Bola Tinubu for focusing on the conduct of the victims rather than the perpetrators.
Abubakar linked the lack of justice for the shooting to Nigeria's current economic crisis, citing petrol prices of ₦1,405 per litre and declining purchasing power. He proposed an Economic Recovery Plan centered on domestic fuel refining, increased local production, and protections for minimum-wage earners to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant on Social Media to President Tinubu, rejected the demands as politically insincere. Olusegun questioned why Abubakar did not raise these concerns during visits to former President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2024 and April 2025. He further defended President Tinubu, noting that the president was also a victim of the 2020 unrest when his Lagos residence was nearly razed, and challenged the use of the term Lekki Massacre, arguing it had not been legally established.
