The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in the 2027 general elections, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for proceeding on 3 weeks vacation in Europe while Nigeria is burning, citizens plagued by hardship and miseries.
According to Atiku, “Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol is priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury.
“Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week. And in the middle of all this, President Tinubu has packed his bags for three weeks in Europe.”
Atiku maintained that leadership is not merely the constitutional right to occupy an office; it is the judgment to know when your country needs you at home.
“A father may travel when all is well. But when his roof is burning and his family is trapped inside, he does not pick up his suitcase and head for the airport.
“That is the issue here. It is not that a President must never rest or travel. It is that Nigeria is burning, and the President has chosen a boarding pass over the fire extinguisher.”
Atiku decried that millions of Nigerians are being grounded by hardship while their President is airborne. The people can barely afford to move, but the President keeps moving, he added.
Atiku questioned the rationale of creating a leadership vacuum, noting that Vice President Kashim Shettima was overseas on official duties at the time President Tinubu proceeded on vacation overseas, as well.
The ADC presidential candidate asserted that Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership.
Atiku said he has travelled, lived and spent time abroad, and has never pretended otherwise. He stated that there is a fundamental difference between the travels of a private citizen and the responsibility of the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The ADC presidential candidate pointed out, that the Vice President is abroad on official duty. According to him, “that makes the President’s decision even more difficult to understand.
Atiku declared: “a government that cannot feel the pain it inflicts will never summon the will to end it.
“Tinubu made Nigeria expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again.”
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