Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday said Nigeria “is in a full- blown state of emergency.”
Atiku, while taking a critical look at recent developments across the Country since President Bola Tinubu jetted out to France on the 2nd of April, 2025, concluded that “Nigeria is in a full-blown state of emergency”
He added, “Not a contrived political emergency like what Tinubu declared in Rivers for partisan gain — this is a national collapse.”
The former Vice President demanded to know “when, exactly, will Tinubu declare a state of emergency on his own disastrous presidency?”
Atiku noted that President Tinubu had departed Nigeria on the April 2, 2025, to France. He stated that “by the time the President returns, he would have spent about 59 days in France, in his first two years as President.”
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Atiku, who queried the rationale behind the latest visit to France, described to trip as “an insult to nation pushed to the brink by a Presidency that treats its citizens like fools.”
Recall that Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Spokesman, had announced that Tinubu was going to France “on a working visit”.
But Atiku, while describing this as “official excuse”, added that ” 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”, he added.
“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.
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“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 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.
“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”, he noted.
Atiku’s statement came just hours after Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the 2023 election, called on the President to cut short his trip to attend to burning domestic issues bordering on security.
Obi, in a statement on his X handle, lamented the senseless killings across the North in just one week that claimed over 100 lives.
