The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s decision to visit Plateau State on Saturday to attend the funeral of Mama Lydia Yilwatda, mother of the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

The former Vice President said Tinubu attended a social event in the North Central state instead of visiting victims and consoling communities ravaged by insecurity.

In a post via his official X handle on Saturday, Atiku described the President’s visit to the North Central state — one of the areas hardest hit by violent attacks as “a sad reflection of priorities and a mockery of leadership.”

He said it was regrettable that the President chose to visit Plateau State to attend a funeral event associated with the APC chairman rather than commiserate with victims of the persistent killings and displacement across the region.

“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,” Atiku said.

The former Vice President alleged that the President’s decision to attend the event “under the auspices of his party’s national chairman” showed a lack of empathy and compassion.

“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.

Atiku further criticised the Tinubu administration for failing to show solidarity with victims of violence in the North Central region, citing states like Benue, Niger, and Kwara as examples of places that have suffered repeated attacks without direct presidential visits.

He recalled that even during Tinubu’s visit to Benue in June, “he never bothered to set foot in Yelewata, the epicentre of the massacre,” accusing the President of preferring comfort over compassion.

“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,” Atiku said.

He stated that Nigerians were taking note of the President’s actions, warning that “the people are watching, and they will remember.”

Tinubu attended the funeral service for Mama Lydia held at the Church of Christ in Nations headquarters in Jos, the Plateau state capital.

During the service, the President delivered a speech calling for unity, peace, and tolerance and urged residents to “shun religious and ethnic differences” and to coexist in harmony. (The PUNCH)