Atiku, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, had asked Tinubu to step aside if he could not handle his responsibilities as President.
The Presidency has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s criticism of Bola Tinubu’s handling of Nigeria’s affairs as reckless.
According to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy on Tuesday, if Atiku was truly concerned about security issues in Nigeria, he would know that Tinubu was on top of the situation.
Atiku, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, had asked Tinubu to step aside if he could not handle his responsibilities as President.
Atiku, who said that Nigeria does not need what he described as another Tourist-in-Chief, berated President Tinubu for embarking on private visits outside the country while Nigerians are being kidnapped and killed regularly.
The former Vice President in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday said that President Tinubu was playing fiddle while Nigeria was drowning in the ocean of insecurity.
According to him, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria was on a private visit while kidnappers killed a nursing mother and grandmother in Abuja for failing to pay a ransom of N90 million.
Onanuga said Atiku’s latest criticism came days after he made an “equally reckless allegation against the President on the crude for loan deal for NNPC Limited,” adding that his “latest statement fell short of what is expected from an elder statesman”.
He said, “We like to believe that Alhaji Atiku is still not nursing hangover of his electoral defeat and now latches on any issue to attack President Tinubu.
“President Tinubu did not travel without informing Nigerians of his whereabouts. He announced a private visit to France and announced a return date.
“While in France, President Tinubu has been following developments at home and he is on top of the situation in the country. Today’s inauguration of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum wage bore his imprimatur.
“He is in constant touch with his officials and security chiefs and has directed them to stamp out every form of criminality in the country.
“He has particularly ordered them to apprehend those criminals responsible for the murder of two monarchs in Ekiti State and the kidnapping of some pupils in the state.
“We are already seeing results with the arrest of over 139 kidnappers around Abuja, Kaduna and Benue States in the last one week. The police Special Intervention Squad (SIS) and DSS have also rescued 154 abducted persons in the last few days.
“Just last week President Tinubu approved N50billion as Special Fund to address some of the lingering security challenges in North East where Alhaji Atiku hails from. To cope with the kidnapping challenges in the FCT, President Tinubu also approved funds for the acquisition of equipment to track criminals.
“If Alhaji Atiku is really concerned about security issues and not playing cheap politics, he should have known that President Tinubu is on top of issues and working hard to restore peace to every part of our country.”
“Our security agencies are working very hard to bring the security situation under control. President Tinubu is giving them all the necessary support they need to win the battle against criminal elements and secure every inch of our country,” he added.