• Faults Tinubu’s Working Visit to France

• Safiu Kehinde

Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has decried that spate of insecurity and killings in the country while faulting President Bola Tinubu’s working visit to France.

Atiku labelled Tinubu’s visit to France as a contemptuous vanity trip and an insult to Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by Paul Ibe from the Atiku Media Office.

According to the statement, Nigeria is spiralling in chaos and sinking deeper into poverty, insecurity, and despair.

Atiku accused Tinubu of negligence, stressing that a patriotic leader wouldn’t need to be begged to show up in times of crisis.

The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate further faulted Tinubu’s France trip.

He held that the President ought to cut his trip short to address the Nigeria’s pressing issues which he claimed to have left the country in a real full-blown state of emergency as against the contrived political emergency declared in Rivers state.

The statement read in part; “On April 2, 2025, President Bola Tinubu flew out to France. Had this absurd announcement come just a day earlier, Nigerians would have dismissed it as an April Fool’s joke. But sadly, it’s no prank — just another insult to a nation pushed to the brink by a presidency that treats its citizens like fools.

“The official excuse? A so-called “working visit.” But Nigerians aren’t buying the spin. The presidency scrambled to clarify that it wasn’t a medical trip — how noble. But even if it’s not medical tourism, what justification is there for gallivanting across Europe while Nigeria bleeds? What kind of leader borrows billions only to blow scarce funds on vanity trips abroad? It’s not just irresponsible— it’s contemptuous.

“Let the facts speak for themselves. By the time Tinubu struts back from this latest escapade, he will have racked up a staggering 59 days in France since assuming office. “See Paris and die?” No — see Paris and abandon your country.

“While Tinubu dines under chandeliers in the land of good governance, the country he governs is spiraling into chaos. Plateau has turned into a killing field — over 100 lives lost in relentless attacks. Benue is bleeding. Boko Haram is seizing territory. And every single day, Nigerians sink deeper into poverty, insecurity, and despair.

“This isn’t just negligence. It’s dereliction of duty on a catastrophic scale.

“If Tinubu had even a shred of empathy, he would cut his trip short and return immediately.

“A leader with an ounce of patriotism wouldn’t need to be begged to show up in times of crisis. The constitution says the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. But under Tinubu, that sacred duty has been trashed.

“Let’s be honest: there is absolutely nothing Tinubu is doing in France that he couldn’t do in Lagos, or even in Iragbiji. This so-called “working visit” is nothing more than a vacation cloaked in official jargon.

“Nigeria is in a full-blown state of emergency. Not a contrived political emergency like what Tinubu declared in Rivers for partisan gain — this is a national collapse. So when, exactly, will Tinubu declare a state of emergency on his own disastrous presidency?”