By Ghazali Ibrahim
Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his decision to embark on a three-week vacation in Europe amid worsening economic hardship and insecurity in Nigeria.
Atiku, in a statement on Sunday, said Tinubu’s absence from the country at a difficult time raised concerns about the President’s leadership priorities.
“Nigeria is burning. Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership,” Atiku said.
Tinubu departed Abuja on Saturday for his annual leave in Europe, with London reportedly his first destination.
Atiku said the President’s trip was particularly troubling given the challenges confronting Nigerians, including rising living costs, food insecurity, high transport fares and insecurity.
“Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury. Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week,” he said.
The former vice-president acknowledged that he had also travelled and lived abroad but stressed that the responsibilities of a sitting president were different.
“I have travelled, lived and spent time abroad, and I have never pretended otherwise. But there is a fundamental difference between the travels of a private citizen and the responsibility of the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he added.
Atiku’s criticism comes as Vice-President Kashim Shettima is also outside the country. Shettima is in Luanda, Angola, representing Nigeria at an African Union summit.
The simultaneous absence of the President and Vice-President has consequently intensified Atiku’s argument that the country is facing a leadership vacuum, although there is no constitutional vacuum.
Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria after his three-week vacation.
