Phrank Shaibu, media aide to former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, says Nigerians are judging the Bola Tinubu administration by its performance rather than politicking.

Shaibu spoke while reacting to comments by Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, on Tinubu’s brinkmanship ahead of the 2027 elections.

On Sunday, Keyamo had said Tinubu remains politically ahead of opposition figures.

“The very unique thing about President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that he fought from the deep end of opposition to become President of Nigeria,” Keyamo wrote on X.

“He has totally flipped the script on the PDP which could not outfox him as the only surviving opposition Governor in the South-West in 2007.

“Therefore, every step the opposition takes today and every strategy they adopt is from the playbook of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He knows and understands every single step against him before they even conceive it.

You cannot beat the master at his own game; you cannot outfox the man who taught almost all of us how to play opposition politics; he is 100 steps ahead of all of them.”

BEING 100 STEPS AHEAD MEANS NOTHING’

Responding, Shaibu said past political victories cannot substitute for governance performance.

“Tinubu may have excelled in opposition politics, but governance is about results, not rhetoric,” he said.

According to him, “the myth of invincibility is often the last refuge of a failing narrative”.

Shaibu said Nigerians are concerned about rising hardship and insecurity.

The myth of invincibility is often the last refuge of a failing narrative. Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have had his moments in opposition politics, but governance is not a game of chess—it is a duty to deliver results,” he said.

“Today, Nigerians are not asking who once outfoxed whom in 2007; they are asking why hunger is rising, why insecurity persists, and why the cost of living has become unbearable.

“Being ‘100 steps ahead’ should reflect in better lives for citizens, not in clever political storytelling. If anything, the current realities suggest a government struggling to keep pace with the very crises confronting it.

History may remember political battles, but the present will judge leadership by performance, and on that scale, no amount of myth-making can mask the truth. He is an abysmal FAILURE!”

Shaibu said governance should improve citizens’ welfare.

Being ‘100 steps ahead’ scheming means nothing when millions of Nigerians are being dragged backwards by hunger, insecurity, and a collapsing standard of living,” he added.

“What is the value of strategy if it cannot put food on the table, secure lives, or restore dignity to the average citizen? Governance is not a masterclass in manipulation—it is a test of compassion, competence, and courage.

Today, Nigerians are not impressed by recycled opposition tactics dressed up as brilliance; they are confronted daily by empty pockets, unsafe communities, and a government that appears disconnected from their pain.

“No amount of propaganda can mask a reality that is this loud.”