A political debate erupted on social media following the circulation of images showing President Bola Tinubu appearing to doze at public events, in response to criticism of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The controversy began after the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, mocked Atiku over a viral image from an opposition summit held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Sharing the image on 𝕏, Basiru wrote, “And the opposition leader slept at the all-important opposition summit.”
The summit brought together key opposition figures, including Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Abdulfatah Ahmed, as part of consultations ahead of the 2027 elections.
Following the post, several supporters of the ruling party took to social media to ridicule the former vice president.
A user, Ojewande Taiwo, wrote, “This is the man that wants to rescue Nigeria! It’s better he rescues himself.”
Another commenter, Tunde Obasemola, added, “So shall the election be lost and won while in slumber.”
However, the criticism triggered a wave of counter-reactions, with other users sharing older and recent images of President Tinubu in similar situations.
Some Accused APC Supporters Of Double Standards.
One user, SarkinEnigma, wrote, “APC Bois and their leaders will try to mock others but they will end up embarrassing themselves… We have seen so many pictures of Tinubu sleeping in very important internal meetings and no one used it against him.”
J.K Law stated, “Atiku, Tinubu na the same thing,” while another user, Lorenzo II Magnifico, described the situation as “pot calling kettle black.”
Oladimeji also criticised the focus on the issue, writing, “Look at what you are reporting?… how does this news help the nation?”
In a more critical take, Imam Abdulhamid linked the debate to governance concerns, saying, “Mock someone for sleeping, but your own principal keeps falling just like our economy.”
@pacinoproper wrote, “Basiru, how are you? Seems Tinuburu is still asleep.”
@PrinceZankuli stated, “Have you ever accused our sleeping president? 🙄”
@Seanquality1 said, “He’s even the best friend of Emilokun, that’s why we don’t want emilokun or him, they shares everything in common.”
@RealBenzy128777 stated, “How is that a problem. Do you know how times Tinubu slept in an event?”