Atiku describes Tinubu as ‘heartless’ for attending ‘political funeral’ in Plateau

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Saturday criticised President Bola Tinubu for attending the funeral of the mother of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Nantawe Yilwatda, in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a key promoter of the opposition coalition against Mr Tinubu, said the president should have used his visit to the state to commiserate with victims of recent banditry attacks rather than attending a social event.

The former vice president made the remarks in a statement posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.

“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.

“Today, however, the president suddenly remembered Plateau State, one of the most terrorised parts of the North-entral, not to share in the people’s pain, but to attend a social event under the auspices of his party’s national chairman.

“It is a sad reflection of priorities and a glaring mockery of leadership that while families in Plateau continue to bury their loved ones, President Tinubu chose to grace a political funeral rather than stand with the people in their darkest hour,” he said.

Aside from the president, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, and Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang also attended the funeral ceremony.

Plateau State has suffered recurrent banditry attacks, often targeting rural communities at night. Attackers use guns and machetes, burn houses, abduct residents, and cause mass displacement. Many villages have been deserted, with survivors seeking refuge in towns, churches, and makeshift camps.

There is no exact death toll from the series of attacks, as government and independent reports differ widely. However, Amnesty International estimated that about 2,630 people were killed in Plateau State between 2023 and 2025, a figure the Defence Headquarters has disputed as inaccurate.

The insecurity has also spread to other parts of the North-central region. In September, Kwara State, previously considered peaceful, witnessed an attack in which several forest guards were killed and several residents abducted when bandits invaded Oke-Ode community in Ifelodun Local Government Area.

‘Heartless President’

Atiku described President Tinubu’s decision to attend the funeral instead of visiting victims of violence as heartless and insensitive.

“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.

The former vice president accused the president of abandoning victims of insecurity across the North-central states.

“From Benue to Niger and most recently Kwara, the entire North-caentral region has endured some of the most horrific waves of violence in recent history. Yet, not once has the APC-led government deemed it necessary to physically stand by the victims or console their families.

“Even when Tinubu made a symbolic visit to Benue State in June, he never bothered to set foot in Yelewata, the epicentre of the massacre. Instead, he ended his trip comfortably in Makurdi, turning his back on the people whose tears and blood still stain the soil.

“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.The Nigerian people are watching, and they will remember,” he said. (Premium times)