What Atiku said about the Lekki tollgate shooting
In a statement titled “Six Years After Lekki, The APC Still Owes Nigerians And Young People A Future,” Atiku said Nigeria is still waiting for a clear answer to one question: who gave the order.
He also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s reaction in October 2020, when Tinubu, then a former Lagos governor, said those who suffered casualties had questions to answer. Atiku said the comment focused on the victims rather than on accountability. He also linked the issue to the rising cost of living facing young Nigerians, as reported by Linda Ikeji’s Blog.
Olusegun Dada’s response
Addressing Atiku as “Alhaji,” Dada argued that the former vice president had earlier chances to raise the questions with the person who was president in 2020.
He pointed to two visits Atiku made to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari: one on June 22, 2024, in Daura, and another on April 11, 2025, at Buhari’s retirement home in Kaduna. According to Dada, those visits were opportunities to ask the questions Atiku is now putting to President Tinubu.
“That it took you six years to ask these questions is a testament to your insincerity,” Dada wrote, accusing Atiku of acting out of political ambition.
Dada also said Tinubu, an ordinary citizen in 2020, suffered during the unrest. He claimed Tinubu’s Bourdillon home was nearly burned and that Tinubu and his domestic staff fled for safety. He further disputed the use of the phrase “Lekki Massacre,” saying a legally established massacre remains unproven and that forensic evidence and multi-agency investigations contradict the early casualty figures circulated on social media.
Dada described the opposition’s focus on the issue as an attempt to revive Atiku’s “Economic Recovery Plan” and gain campaign leverage. He closed by saying this is Atiku’s final attempt at the presidency.
These are Dada’s claims. The Daily Talk newsroom has not independently verified them, and Atiku had not responded to Dada at the time of publication.
What the record shows on the Lekki tollgate incident
The facts of the case remain contested, so the documented record is worth setting out.
- Tinubu’s 2020 position: He said he did not own the tollgate and did not order the military action. He also called for an investigation and asked that tollgate revenue go to victims of the attack.
- The Lagos judicial panel: In November 2021, the panel reported that nine protesters were confirmed dead and four presumed dead, and indicted the Nigerian Army. It said the shooting was unwarranted and excessive, and that the army deployment followed an invitation from the Lagos State Government.
- Rights groups: Human Rights Watch said the panel’s 309-page report corroborated its own findings that security forces shot and killed unarmed protesters.
- Federal position: The Federal Government has rejected the panel’s report over alleged inconsistencies, and the army has long denied the characterisation of the incident as a massacre.
Political context
The exchange comes as parties position themselves for the 2027 general elections. Earlier today, the ADC Campaign Council urged Nigerian youths to reject a second term for Tinubu. Peter Obi also marked the anniversary, urging Nigerians to never forget the Lekki tollgate shootings.
The row also touches on election integrity, a subject raised in another report from our newsroom, where a former electoral official warned that politicians have infiltrated agencies responsible for election staff.
For more on the road to 2027, visit the Daily Talk Politics section.
What happens next
No fresh official inquiry into the Lekki tollgate shooting has been announced. With campaigns heating up, the question of who gave the order, and who answers for it, is likely to stay in the public conversation.
Daily Talk will update this story as reactions come in.