Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for visiting Plateau and Benue states for social events rather than to console victims of attacks.
In a statement personally signed by him on Saturday, Atiku, described it as proof that the president’s priorities do not align with the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.
He said that it was “deeply unfortunate” that despite the worsening insecurity across the country, President Tinubu had not visited any of the affected states to sympathise with grieving citizens.
“With large swathes of the country still under siege from unrelenting insecurity and thousands of innocent lives lost, it is deeply unfortunate that President Bola Tinubu has not, for once, found it worthy to visit any of the affected states to commiserate with the grieving citizens,” Atiku said.
He lamented that the president only chose to visit Plateau — “one of the most terrorized parts of the North Central” — to attend a social event hosted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, rather than to console victims of recent attacks.
“Today, however, the President suddenly remembered Plateau State — one of the most terrorized parts of the North Central — not to share in the people’s pain, but to attend a social event under the auspices of his party’s national chairman,” he stated.
“It is a sad reflection of priorities and a glaring mockery of leadership that while families in Plateau continue to bury their loved ones, President Tinubu chose to grace a political funeral rather than stand with the people in their darkest hour.”
According to Atiku, the president’s actions amounted to “a heartless exhibition of disregard for empathy, compassion, and the dignity of human life.”
“Between the APC National Chairman and his President, what we witnessed today is a heartless exhibition of disregard for empathy, compassion, and the dignity of human life,” he said.
The former vice president further decried what he described as the government’s continued insensitivity to victims of violence across the North Central states.
“From Benue to Niger and most recently Kwara, the entire North Central region has endured some of the most horrific waves of violence in recent history. Yet, not once has the APC-led government deemed it necessary to physically stand by the victims or console their families,” Atiku said.
He recalled that even during Tinubu’s symbolic visit to Benue State in June, the president avoided the areas most affected by violence.
“Even when Tinubu made a symbolic visit to Benue State in June, he never bothered to set foot in Yelewata — the epicentre of the massacre.
Instead, he ended his trip comfortably in Makurdi, turning his back on the people whose tears and blood still stain the soil,” Atiku noted.
“Now again, he is in Plateau State, not to console the bereaved or reassure the broken, but to celebrate and make merry with his party elite while the people mourn,” he added.
Atiku said Tinubu’s actions have sent a clear message to Nigerians about his leadership style.
“The message could not be clearer: this is a President who would rather feast than feel — a leader who finds pleasure where the people find pain,” he said.
He warned that Nigerians are paying attention and will remember the president’s choices.
“The Nigerian people are watching — and they will remember,” he concluded.
President Tinubu was at the funeral service of Lydia Yilwatda, mother of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.
Plateau has experienced series of Kidnappings, killings and destruction of properties by bandits.
