The presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in the February 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, says President Bola Tinubu is playing fiddle while Nigeria is drowning in the ocean of insecurity.
Taking to his verified X [formerly Twitter] handle @atiku on Tuesday [today], Atiku stated, “To imagine that the Commander-in-Chief is on a so-called private visit while kidnappers kill a nursing mother and grandmother in Abuja for failing to pay N90m ransom; and two monarchs in Ekiti, among other regular tragedies besetting Nigerians.”
Tinubu departed Nigeria for Paris, France, on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, for a private visit. “He will return to the country in the first week of February, 2024,” the statement announcing his departure said.
The trip is President Tinubu’s second to France since he assumed office in May 2023.
Addressing Tinubu by his campaign slogan of Emi lo kan [now, it’s my turn], Atiku says, “If the shoes are too big for Emilokan, he should step aside.”
In the run up to party conventions where candidates for elective offices would be chosen amidst intensive horse trading, Tinubu had tearfully appealed to party delegates in decisive states that it was his turn, reminding his listeners of how he contributed to their electoral successes at the polls since 1999, including being the “arrowhead” of the parties that brought then President Muhammadu Buhari to power at a time the latter had probably lost hope after four failed bids.
Also, in a snide reference to the numerous foreign trips that characterized the administration of Tinubu’s predecessor Muhammadu Buhari, who spent a reasonable amount of his time in government travelling overseas for medical treatment at public expense, Atiku says, “Nigeria does not need another Tourist-in-Chief. The country needs 24/7 leadership to confront the pervasive insecurity and collapsing economy.”
