Release of Abducted Oyo School Victims: Atiku Challenges Presidency, "You Must Be Lazy"
- Atiku Abubakar fired back at the Presidency for alleging he made no comment after the rescue of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State
- Atiku's aide Phrank Shaibu said the Presidency was either too lazy to verify publicly available facts or too embarrassed to acknowledge his statement
- The former vice president reproduced excerpts from his earlier press release commending the military and demanding the rescue of Nigerians still in captivity
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has hit back at the Presidency after it accused him of remaining silent over the rescue of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State, describing the claim as a deliberate distortion of documented fact.
Phrank Shaibu, Atiku's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, issued a statement on Friday, July 11 , on behalf of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, setting out two explanations for the Presidency's position: that its media handlers failed to consult publicly available records before making the allegation, or that they chose to ignore his statement because its contents were inconvenient.
Source: Facebook
"It is astonishing that a Presidency with limitless public resources could accuse someone of silence without carrying out the most basic verification. Either they failed to read our statement because they were too lazy to do so, or they deliberately ignored it because it exposed uncomfortable truths about their misplaced priorities," Atiku said.
Atiku reproduces earlier statement on Oyo rescue
The statement cited by Legit.ng on Saturday, July 11, pointed to an earlier press release titled "A Nation at War Needs a Commander-in-Chief, Not a Campaigner-in-Chief," in which Atiku said he welcomed the rescue, praised the professionalism and sacrifice of the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies, and called for continued efforts to free Nigerians still held in captivity.
Excerpts reproduced in Friday's statement included the following:
"The rescue of innocent schoolchildren from the hands of terrorists is a victory for our gallant troops and a source of hope for every Nigerian family. They deserve the gratitude of the nation."
He also warned against complacency, saying:
"One successful rescue must not become an excuse for self-congratulation. A nation cannot celebrate while other parents still go to bed not knowing whether their children are alive or dead. Our work is not done until every abducted Nigerian is safely reunited with his or her family."
Atiku raises questions on Borno abductions
While acknowledging the Oyo rescue as a moment of relief, Atiku pressed the Federal Government on the fate of schoolchildren abducted in Borno State and other Nigerians still held by terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers across the country.
"The facts are now before Nigerians. We did not only congratulate the security agencies, we praised their courage, professionalism and sacrifice in unmistakable terms. What we declined to do was to applaud a Commander-in-Chief who, at a defining moment of national importance, remained publicly preoccupied with partisan political activities," he said.
He urged the Presidency to redirect its attention from monitoring and misrepresenting opposition statements to addressing the country's ongoing security crisis.
"A government secure in its performance does not invent silence where there was a documented public statement. It responds to legitimate concerns with facts and results, not propaganda," Atiku added.
Legit.ng has previously reported on Atiku Abubakar's criticism of President Tinubu's handling of Nigeria's security situation and the administration's response to opposition commentary.
Atiku asks Tinubu to resign
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has given President Bola Tinubu a seven-day deadline to either sign the Federal Audit Service Bill into law, formally reject it, or vacate the presidency, citing what he described as a clear constitutional violation.
In a statement cited by Legit.ng and issued on Thursday, July 10, 2026, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku invoked Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which states that once a bill is presented to the President for assent, "he shall within thirty days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent."
Source: Legit.ng
