Plateau visit: Tinubu has no empathy for Nigerians – Atiku
By Jeffrey Agbo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s trip to Plateau State on Saturday for the funeral of Mama Lydia Yilwatda, mother of APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.
Atiku criticised the President for attending a political ally’s family event while victims of violent attacks in the region remain without direct presidential consolation.
In a post shared via his official X handle, Atiku described Tinubu’s appearance at the funeral as “a sad reflection of priorities and a mockery of leadership.”
He lamented that Tinubu chose to identify with the APC chairman’s family instead of visiting communities across the North Central that continue to suffer killings and mass displacement.
“With large swathes of the country still under siege from unrelenting insecurity and thousands of innocent lives lost, it is deeply unfortunate that President Bola Tinubu has not, for once, found it worthy to visit any of the affected states to commiserate with the grieving citizens,” Atiku said.
The PDP chieftain further argued that Tinubu’s action underlined an absence of compassion for ordinary Nigerians.
“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,” he added.
Atiku noted that several states in the region — including Benue, Niger, and Kwara — had endured repeated violent attacks, yet the Tinubu administration had failed to show physical solidarity with the victims.
He recalled Tinubu’s June visit to Benue, where he claimed the President avoided the massacre’s epicentre in Yelewata.
“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 said.
He warned that Nigerians were taking note of the President’s actions. “The people are watching, and they will remember,” he added.
