Atiku: Tinubu gallivanting across Europe as Nigeria bleeds — he doesn’t care

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu for remaining in Europe as insecurity engulfs the country he leads.

On April 2, Tinubu departed Nigeria for France on a two-week “working visit”.

During Tinubu’s stay in France, there has been an uptick in killings and abductions by gunmen in several parts of the country, notably in Plateau and Benue states.

Last week, the president left Paris for London. 

Opposition leaders have reprimanded the president for his continued stay abroad in the face of a wave of killings back home. 

In a statement issued on Sunday, Abubakar claimed that Tinubu simply does not care. 

He cited cases of political leaders who cut short their trips to attend to urgent matters back home. 

“The Tinubu administration has proven, time and again, to be utterly incapable, wholly incompetent, and completely devoid of any coherent ideas for tackling Nigeria’s deepening security crisis,” Abubakar said.

“This is not just my position — it is a growing consensus among political opposition leaders, respected security experts, and even members within the ruling party who, though too timid to speak publicly, confess this uncomfortable truth behind closed doors.

“The blood of innocent Nigerians continues to be spilled with appalling regularity — most recently in the Logo and Gbagir communities of Ukum LGA in Benue State.

“Yet, the Tinubu presidency remains disturbingly indifferent, displaying neither urgency nor the basic decency of public empathy.

“Leadership demands presence. In 2016, President Barack Obama cut short an important diplomatic visit to return home after five police officers were killed in a lone gunman attack.

“In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa abandoned a state visit to Egypt to return to South Africa amid an electricity crisis.

“Even U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, heavily criticised for fleeing to Mexico during a deadly winter storm in Texas, eventually returned and acknowledged his mistake.

“In our own history, President Goodluck Jonathan returned from Equatorial Guinea in 2014 following a deadly bomb blast in Abuja.

“That is the expected minimum in moments of national trauma.

“Yet President Bola Tinubu, incapable of solving Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, chooses instead to gallivant across Europe — governing Nigeria in absentia as if from a holiday perch.

“If he cannot act, the least he can do is show up. If he cannot lead with empathy, he should at least attempt to perform it. Nigeria is bleeding. Nigerians are dying. The president is nowhere to be found.

“An inept administration may not suddenly discover competence. But we will not stop calling it out. If Tinubu cannot deliver safety and dignity to Nigerians, the very least he can do is pretend to care.”

Abubakar said Tinubu must prove that he cares for all Nigerians — regardless of their ethnic, political or religious affiliation.