The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has fired back at the Presidency over claims that he remained silent following the rescue of the abducted pupils and teachers in Oyo State, accusing President Bola Tinubu’s media team of either being “lazy” or deliberately suppressing facts.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku dismissed the allegation as a “reckless distortion of facts,” insisting that he had publicly welcomed the rescue operation and commended the security agencies involved.
According to Shaibu, the former Vice President said the Presidency’s accusation could only be explained in two ways.
“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.
The former Vice President explained that he had earlier issued a statement titled, “A Nation at War Needs a Commander-in-Chief, Not a Campaigner-in-Chief,” in which he celebrated the rescue of the abducted children, praised the Armed Forces and other security agencies for their professionalism, and urged continued efforts to secure the release of Nigerians still held captive.
He maintained that the Presidency’s claim collapsed in the face of documentary evidence.
“For the benefit of Nigerians and to expose the falsehood being circulated by the Presidency, we reproduce below the relevant portions of that statement,” he said.
Atiku argued that the reproduced excerpts clearly disproved allegations that he failed to acknowledge the successful rescue operation.
“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 instead of personally leading the nation in celebrating the success of our troops and reassuring families whose loved ones remain in captivity,” he stated.
The ADC presidential candidate further insisted that the rescue of the Oyo pupils, though commendable, did not erase broader concerns over the country’s worsening insecurity.
“The rescue of the Oyo schoolchildren brought joy to the nation, but Nigerians are still asking: when will the children abducted in Borno and other innocent citizens across the country also regain their freedom? Those questions remain unanswered,” he said.
Atiku urged the Presidency to focus on addressing the nation’s security challenges rather than, according to him, manufacturing controversies around opposition statements.
“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. Nigerians deserve a Presidency focused on rescuing every citizen still in captivity rather than one preoccupied with monitoring and misrepresenting the opposition,” he added.
The statement comes amid a war of words between the Presidency and the former Vice President over reactions to the recent rescue of abducted pupils and teachers in Oyo State by security forces.
