Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed strong disapproval over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s extended stay in France, as violence and bloodshed escalate in parts of Nigeria, particularly in Benue and Plateau States.
In a statement issued by his media team on Wednesday, Atiku condemned what he described as the President’s nonchalant attitude towards the deteriorating security situation in the country. He questioned Tinubu’s decision to remain abroad while Nigerian citizens continue to suffer brutal attacks and killings in multiple communities. The former Vice President did not mince words, stating that the President has abandoned his constitutional responsibility of ensuring the security and welfare of Nigerians, as enshrined in Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
Atiku’s criticism follows a renewed wave of violence that began on March 9 in Benue State, where at least 15 persons were reportedly killed during coordinated attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in communities within the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area. Since then, more assaults by unidentified gunmen have been recorded, leaving dozens of families displaced and in mourning.
The violence took a deadlier turn in Plateau State, where a fresh attack was carried out on Sunday night in Zike hamlet, Kimakpa community, within Kwall District of Irigwe Chiefdom, Bassa Local Government Area. Local sources confirmed that no fewer than 52 people lost their lives in the gruesome onslaught, including an entire family of eight. Several homes and properties were also razed by fire, compounding the suffering of survivors.
Despite the grim reports and calls for urgent leadership, President Tinubu who travelled to France on April 2, 2025 has yet to return to Nigeria. The Presidency had earlier described the visit as a “working trip,” though no specific details of its purpose have been made public, raising further concerns about transparency and leadership priorities.
Reacting to the development, Atiku decried the President’s apparent detachment from the suffering of the people. “On April 2, President Bola Tinubu left for France. If such a tone-deaf announcement had come a day earlier, Nigerians might have mistaken it for an April Fool’s joke. But it’s not. It’s the reality of a nation left to bleed while its leader wines and dines abroad,” he said.
He further questioned the motive behind the trip, noting that whether medical or official, no justification could make sense to a nation currently grappling with multiple internal crises. “Whether it’s a so-called working visit or not, the optics are disgraceful. A President who borrows billions to fund government operations should not be gallivanting across Europe while Nigerians are massacred in their sleep,” Atiku added.
According to the former Vice President, the President has now spent a cumulative 59 days in France since assuming office in May 2023, a figure he described as “alarming and disrespectful to the Nigerian people.” He mocked what he saw as the President’s preference for the French capital over addressing real-time national emergencies. “See Paris and die? No, it’s more like see Paris and abandon your country,” Atiku said.
While the President remains overseas, the security situation back home continues to spiral. Plateau State, once again, finds itself at the mercy of armed assailants, with over 100 lives reportedly lost in recent weeks. Benue continues to experience persistent attacks in rural communities. In the Northeast, there are growing concerns over Boko Haram’s renewed offensives. Meanwhile, the country’s economic challenges are deepening, with inflation, job losses, and poverty on the rise.
Atiku emphasised that leadership, especially in times of crisis, demands presence, empathy, and swift action. He argued that there was absolutely nothing President Tinubu was doing in France that he could not have handled from Nigeria. “Let’s not pretend. This so-called working visit is nothing but a vacation dressed up in official language,” he said.
He concluded by stating that Nigeria is currently in a full-blown emergency and needs decisive leadership, not absenteeism. “If President Tinubu had even a drop of empathy or patriotism left, he would be on the next flight home. No serious leader needs to be begged to return to their country when their people are under siege,” he said.
Atiku’s comments have reignited national discourse around the President’s overseas travels and the perception that governance is being conducted from abroad, even as insecurity and socio-economic issues continue to plague the nation. For many, the question remains: how long can the country afford to be led from afar?
