Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s decision to visit Plateau State on Saturday to attend a funeral, arguing the choice was a “mockery of leadership” that highlighted a severe misplacement of priorities.
President Tinubu was in Jos to attend the funeral service of Mama Lydia Yilwatda, the mother of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, where he delivered a speech calling for unity and tolerance.
In a statement posted on his official X handle, Atiku argued that with large areas of the North Central—including Plateau, Benue, Niger, and Kwara—under siege from unrelenting insecurity and mass killings, the President should have prioritized consoling communities ravaged by violence over attending a social event linked to his party elite.
“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,” Atiku stated.
The former Vice President accused Tinubu of failing to show solidarity with victims of violence, noting that the President has not once found it worthy to visit any of the hard-hit states to commiserate with grieving citizens.
Atiku specifically recalled the President’s previous visit to Benue in June, where he allegedly “never bothered to set foot in Yelewata, the epicentre of the massacre.”
He concluded his criticism by accusing President Tinubu of preferring personal comfort over national compassion:
“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. 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.”
Atiku warned the administration that Nigerians are taking note of this perceived lack of empathy, asserting that “the people are watching, and they will remember.”
For marketing and advertising, or publishing your promotional content, contact us at [email protected]
