Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for embarking on a three-week vacation in Europe at a time he described as a critical period for Nigeria.
The Presidency announced on Sunday that Tinubu had departed Abuja for Europe to begin his annual vacation, with London, United Kingdom, his first destination.
Reacting in a post on his X handle, Atiku said the President’s decision to travel while Vice President Kashim Shettima is also outside the country had created what he described as a “disturbing vacuum of political leadership.”
Atiku said there was a fundamental difference between the overseas travels of a private citizen and those of a sitting President, particularly when the country is facing serious economic and security challenges.
“Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership,” Atiku stated.
He argued that Nigerians were currently dealing with high petrol prices, food insecurity, rising transport fares and worsening insecurity, saying the situation required the President’s attention at home rather than an extended vacation abroad.
The former Vice President likened Tinubu’s departure to a father abandoning his family while his house was on fire.
“Consider what Bola Tinubu is leaving behind. Petrol priced beyond the reach of ordinary people. Families rationing food. Transport fares that have turned a journey to one’s own village into a luxury. Insecurity that buries Nigerians week after week,” he said.
Atiku also questioned Tinubu’s decision to travel while Shettima was abroad on official duty, arguing that leadership required the judgment to recognise when the country needed the President’s presence.
He said the issue was not whether a president should rest or travel, but whether the timing of the trip was appropriate given the challenges facing Nigerians.
“Millions of Nigerians are being grounded by hardship while their President is airborne. The people can barely afford to move, but the President keeps moving,” Atiku said.
He further accused the Tinubu administration of making Nigeria increasingly expensive and pledged that, if elected, he would work to make the country affordable again.
The Presidency, however, said Tinubu would return to Nigeria after the three-week working vacation to participate in the campaign ahead of the January 2027 general elections.
