The Presidency said Atiku was playing cheap politics by asking Tinubu to step aside.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Presidency has lashed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for saying President Bola Tinubu should step aside if he is incapable of addressing the economic and security challenges facing the nation.
Atiku was one of the presidential candidates during the general elections last year. He contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, in a statement on Tuesday evening by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency accused Atiku of pretending not to see the efforts being made by Tinubu to ensure peace and prosperity.
It said Tinubu has been putting the right structures in place and empowering the various sectors of society and economy, adding that those measures have already started yielding positive results.
“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s statement accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of fiddling amidst some security and economic challenges is to say the least, reckless,” said the Presidency.
“Coming days after he made an equally reckless allegation against the President on the crude for loan deal for NNPC Limited, his latest statement fell short of what is expected from an elder statesman.
“We like to believe that Alhaji Atiku is still not nursing hangover of his electoral defeat and now latches on any issue to attack President Tinubu.
“President Tinubu did not travel without informing Nigerians of his whereabout. He announced a private visit to France and announced a return date.
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“While in France, President Tinubu has been following developments at home and he is on top of the situation in the country. Today’s inauguration of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum wage bore his imprimatur.
“He is in constant touch with his officials and security chiefs and has directed them to stamp out every form of criminality in the country.
“He has particularly ordered them to apprehend those criminals responsible for the murder of two monarchs in Ekiti State and the kidnapping of some pupils in the state.”
On successes being recorded by the measures Tinubu has established, the Presidency added: “We are already seeing results with the arrest of over 139 kidnappers around Abuja, Kaduna and Benue States in the last one week. The police Special Intervention Squad (SIS) and DSS have also rescued 154 abducted persons in the last few days.
“Just last week President Tinubu approved N50 billion as Special Fund to address some of the lingering security challenges in North East where Alhaji Atiku hails from. To cope with the kidnapping challenges in the FCT, President Tinubu also approved funds for the acquisition of equipment to track criminals.
“If Alhaji Atiku is really concerned about security issues and not playing cheap politics, he should have known that President Tinubu is on top of issues and working hard to restore peace to every part of our country.
“Our security agencies are working very hard to bring the security situation under control. President Tinubu is giving them all the necessary support they need to win the battle against criminal elements and secure every inch of our country.”
