A Headlinenews.News assessment of publicly available answers on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s Ask AA platform found that while critical questions are published, some responses omit requested records, financial figures or clear political commitments. The findings raise concerns about the practicality and potential benefits of some of Atiku’s electoral promises for Nigeria. Critics argue that the gaps make it harder for voters to assess his proposals and question whether his campaign offers workable solutions or is primarily focused on regaining political power through promises that may not be adequately supported.
The assessment examined 100 publicly available answers and 160 supporting source panels covering privatisation, public spending, corruption allegations, electoral promises and Atiku’s record in office. All 100 answers contained at least one supporting source panel, but 12 were found to be only partly responsive because they left significant parts of the questions unanswered. The sample deliberately included difficult accountability questions and was not randomly selected, meaning the findings cannot establish how frequently incomplete responses occur across the entire platform.
One question asked Atiku to identify major public assets privatised under his supervision, including the buyers and sale prices. The response referred the questioner to the Bureau of Public Enterprises without providing the requested details. Another asked whether he would voluntarily publish his full asset declaration, but the response did not make a clear commitment to public disclosure. These examples have fuelled concerns about whether the platform provides enough specific information for Nigerians to scrutinise Atiku’s record and judge his claims.
His proposed financial support for domestically refined petrol also came under scrutiny. When asked about the annual cost and funding source, the platform referred to domestic crude sales and fiscal stabilisation measures but did not provide a specific cost estimate or amount. On whether he would serve only one presidential term if elected, the response stated that a second term was not an automatic entitlement but did not amount to an explicit one-term commitment. The assessment also questioned the platform’s description of Nigeria’s 2005 Paris Club debt settlement, which said the country had paid off $30 billion in foreign debt without clearly distinguishing between debt cancellation and payments to creditors. Another response incorrectly referred to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund as the “Petroleum Development Trust Fund”.
The review further raised questions about the use of artificial intelligence to prepare answers, who verifies the responses and which ones Atiku personally writes or approves. The platform’s published explanation states that most answers are generated from published documents and checked against them, while questions not covered by those materials may be referred to Atiku. The assessment also highlighted questions about language accessibility, data retention and response times. For critics, the omissions raise doubts about whether some of Atiku’s electoral promises are practical or beneficial for Nigeria, while accusations that he is seeking power through false promises, particularly to voters in Northern Nigeria, remain political criticism rather than a conclusion established by the assessment. The campaign spokesperson and technical team had been contacted for clarification, but their responses were still awaited when the original report was prepared.
