Atiku Slams Tinubu's Presidency For "Embarrassing Admission" on National TV: "A National Disgrace"

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sharply criticised the Tinubu administration’s handling of the recent Kebbi schoolgirls’ abduction.

He described government statements on the incident as an attempt to “whitewash a national tragedy.”

In a press release issued on Wednesday, November 26, by his media office, Atiku’s team targeted comments made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, during an interview on Arise News TV.

Onanuga had suggested that security agencies tracked the abductors in real time and engaged in negotiations that led to the girls’ release.

Atiku’s office, however, described this narrative as “a shameful attempt to dress up government incompetence as heroism,” arguing that the release of abducted Nigerians is not a trophy but a reminder that terrorists operate freely and dictate terms to the government.

The former vice president further questioned why, if the kidnappers were under surveillance, security forces did not arrest or neutralise them, accusing the administration of reducing kidnapping to “a routine phone call between criminals and state officials.”

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Atiku Media Office stated that under the current administration, terrorists and bandits have effectively become an alternative government, negotiating and collecting ransom while walking away untouched.”

It read partly:

"Under Tinubu, terrorists/bandits have become an alternative government — negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched — while the presidency celebrates their 'compliance.”

" No serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under surveillance. No responsible government congratulates itself for allowing abductors to walk back into the forests to kidnap again."

"Onanuga and his ilk should stop insulting Nigerians with propaganda. If the security agencies truly had eyes on the kidnappers, then letting them escape is a national disgrace that smacks of complicity. And if they did not have such capacity, then Onanuga is simply manufacturing lies to cover up a monumental failure of leadership."

"Either way, the statement is an embarrassing admission that this administration has lost control of national security and is now trying to spin incompetence into achievement."

The statement concluded that Nigerians “deserve protection, not fairy tales by moonlight,” urging the government to stop presenting propaganda as achievement.

Source: Legit.ng