Aliyu, who also leads the APC Rebirth Movement, has been critical of Tinubu’s leadership style and the direction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the party of abandoning internal democracy and inclusiveness.

Audu Aliyu, a former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Bola Tinubu, has declared his intention to work against the President’s re-election bid in 2027, citing nearly two years of being denied direct access to his principal.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time show on Thursday, Aliyu, who recently resigned from the Tinubu administration, expressed frustration over being sidelined despite holding a strategic communication role in the presidency.

He lamented that while he served as one of Tinubu’s spokespersons, he was never granted a sit-down meeting with the President. Instead, the former aide noted that individuals such as Afrobeats artist David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido and Lagos-based politician Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, were able to secure access to the presidency.

Aliyu, who also leads the APC Rebirth Movement, has been critical of Tinubu’s leadership style and the direction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the party of abandoning internal democracy and inclusiveness.

“I worked for the President for nearly two years. I didn’t have a sit-down with him. I’m one of his spokespersons, but he sat with Davido, who insulted him a couple of weeks before. Then he sat with that Jandor, who didn’t even come second in Lagos election. It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Five days before Audu’s resignation, President Tinubu hosted musician Davido and his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, at his private residence in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Similarly, in March, the President met with Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), the 2023 Lagos governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, shortly after he resigned from the party.