The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his decision to travel out of the country for a three-week vacation, describing the timing as inappropriate given Nigeria’s current challenges.
The Presidency announced on Sunday that Tinubu had departed Abuja for Europe to begin a three-week vacation as part of his annual leave.
Reacting in a post on his X handle, Atiku said the President’s absence, coming at a time when Vice President Kashim Shettima is also outside the country, had created what he described as a “disturbing vacuum of political leadership.”
“Nigeria may not be facing a constitutional vacuum today, but there is a disturbing vacuum of political leadership.
“I have travelled, lived and spent time abroad, and I have never pretended otherwise. But there is a fundamental difference between the travels of a private citizen and the responsibility of the sitting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Atiku wrote.
The former Vice President said Nigerians were grappling with high petrol prices, food insecurity, rising transport fares and worsening insecurity, arguing that the President should remain focused on addressing the country’s challenges rather than embarking on an extended vacation.
Atiku compared Tinubu’s decision to travel at this time to a father leaving his home while his family is trapped inside a burning building.
“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. And in the middle of all this, President Tinubu has packed his bags for three weeks in Europe.
“The Vice President is abroad on official duty. That makes the President’s decision even more difficult to understand. Leadership is not merely the constitutional right to occupy an office; it is the judgment to know when your country needs you at home.
“A father may travel when all is well. But when his roof is burning and his family is trapped inside, he does not pick up his suitcase and head for the airport.
“That is the issue here. It is not that a President must never rest or travel. It is that Nigeria is burning, and the President has chosen a boarding pass over the fire extinguisher.”
Atiku also said millions of Nigerians were being weighed down by economic hardship while the President continued to travel.
“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.”
He added that a government unable to feel the pain of the citizens it governs would lack the will to address their problems.
Atiku further accused the Tinubu administration of making Nigeria increasingly expensive, promising that he would make the country affordable again.
The Presidency said Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria after the working vacation and join the campaign ahead of the January 2027 general elections.
