A PREMIUM TIMES examination of 100 publicly available answers on Atiku Abubakar’s Ask AA platform found that critical questions are published, but some responses omit requested records, financial figures or political commitments.
When a Nigerian asked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s new online platform to identify major public assets privatised under his supervision, including their buyers and sale prices, the response offered none of those details.
Another question asked whether Atiku would voluntarily publish his full asset material rather than merely file it with the appropriate authorities.
“I have never shied away from declaring my assets,” the response stated. It offered no commitment to public disclosure.
Both questions appeared on Ask AA, launched by Atiku on 15 October to engage Nigerians on his political record and policy proposals.
On 16 October, PREMIUM TIMES examined 100 publicly accessible answers and 160 supporting source panels, covering privatisation, public spending, corruption allegations, electoral promises and Mr Atiku’s record in office.
All 100 answers displayed at least one supporting source panel. Twelve were assessed as partly responsive because they left a significant part of the question unanswered.
The sample deliberately included difficult accountability questions and was not randomly selected. Its findings cannot be used to estimate how often incomplete answers occur across the entire platform.
Atiku’s proposed financial support for domestically refined petrol was among the policies questioned.
Asked how much the subsidy would cost annually and where the money would come from, the platform cited domestic crude sales, fiscal stabilisation arrangements and measures to manage fluctuations in global oil prices.
It also proposed a spending cap in the national budget, without specifying the amount or providing an annual cost estimate.
A related answer on preventing subsidy fraud was more specific, proposing digital meters at refinery gates, verification of production volumes, supply-chain tracking, public reporting of subsidy payments and independent audits.
Mr Atiku’s age and possible presidential tenure also attracted scrutiny.
One user asked why Nigerians should not give younger politicians an opportunity and whether the former vice president would serve only one term if elected.
The response cited his experience in managing the economy and security.
“The second term is not an automatic entitlement,” it stated.
That was not an explicit one-term commitment.
Two answers raised questions about historical accuracy.
On debt management, the platform stated:
“We were able to manage our debt well, paying off $30 billion of our foreign debt.”
Nigeria’s 2005 Paris Club settlement, a major part of the country’s debt-relief programme during Mr Atiku’s vice presidency, involved both debt cancellation and payments to creditors.
The Paris Club agreement records approximately $18 billion in debt cancellation and about $12.4 billion payable to creditors. The distinction also appears in British parliamentary proceedings.
The platform’s wording does not distinguish debt written off from money repaid, potentially giving readers a misleading impression of how the settlement was achieved.
The supporting passage displayed alongside the answer, from a document labelled Party Manifesto 2027–2031, discusses economic policy but does not substantiate the historical $30 billion claim. Whether the claim appears elsewhere in the complete document was not established.
Another answer concerning allegations involving the Petroleum Technology Development Fund incorrectly names the agency as the “Petroleum Development Trust Fund”.
Its correct name is the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.
The error also appears in the supporting source passage. It is, therefore, unclear whether it originated in the underlying material, an automated process or subsequent editing.
The answers raise further assertions about past investigations, their findings and the absence of prosecution. Those claims were not independently checked against the complete investigative and legal records.
Atiku’s launch announcement presented Ask AA as a means for Nigerians to engage him directly, with support from his media team.
The website’s terms of use describe a system that also uses artificial intelligence to prepare responses from published documents. Questions not covered by those materials may be grouped for Atiku’s attention.
