Phrank Shaibu Defends Atiku’s Use Of Tinubu’s First Name

Phrank Shaibu, a senior aide to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has defended his principal’s practice of addressing President Bola Tinubu by his first name, insisting that it carries no disrespect.

Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) director of strategic communication, spoke on Saturday on the ‘Mic On Podcast’ hosted by Seun Okinbaloye. He rejected the view of critics who consider the form of address inappropriate.

He described such criticism as “wretched illiteracy”, arguing that Bola is the name by which the president is commonly known.

“Those who say that, I think it smacks of wretched illiteracy for anybody to contemplate the issue of disrespect as it relates to addressing Bola by his name,” Shaibu said. “That is his name. He has no other name. His name is Bola and he should be called Bola.”

He also questioned the president’s full name. “We have asked him before, what is the prefix before Bola. But he has never told us the complete name. Maybe that is why it’s been queried,” he said.

Shaibu further tied the defence to the hardship Nigerians have faced under Tinubu’s administration. “That is his name. A man who does not care and has inflicted pain on over 200 million Nigerians should be addressed by his name. What other name do you want us to call him?” he asked.

The remarks follow repeated criticism of Atiku’s references to the president as Bola during public remarks in Abuja. Sunday Dare, Tinubu’s special adviser on media and public communication, called it “the height of insolence” in a September 19 post on X. Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo described it as “disrespectful and discourteous”, while Akin Osuntokun, former director-general of Peter Obi’s 2023 campaign, termed it “unmistakable rudeness”.

The reaction was contained in a post shared on the official ARISE NEWS website on Monday, October 12, 2026.

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