The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has rejected claims by the Presidency that he failed to react to the rescue of the pupils and teachers abducted in Oyo State.
Describing the allegation as false and misleading, Atiku said the accusation could easily be disproved by his earlier public statement on the rescue.
His position was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
According to the statement, there were only two possible reasons the Presidency made the allegation.
“It is astonishing that a Presidency with limitless public resources could accuse someone of silence without carrying out the most basic verification.
“Either they failed to read our statement because they were too lazy to do so, or they deliberately ignored it because it exposed uncomfortable truths about their misplaced priorities,” Atiku said.
The former vice president was responding to comments by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who had accused him of remaining silent for nearly 18 hours after the kidnapped pupils and teachers regained their freedom.
Onanuga had also criticised Atiku for repeatedly condemning the government over the abduction while commending Labour Party’s Peter Obi for acknowledging the victims’ rescue.
However, Atiku maintained that he had already released a detailed statement on Saturday titled, A Nation at War Needs a Commander-in-Chief, Not a Campaigner-in-Chief, in which he welcomed the successful rescue and praised the security agencies involved in the operation.
To back his position, the ADC candidate attached excerpts from the earlier statement, insisting they clearly showed that the Presidency’s allegation was unfounded.
According to him, he not only celebrated the successful operation but also applauded the courage, professionalism and sacrifice of the security personnel who carried it out.
“What we declined to do was to applaud a Commander-in-Chief who, at a defining moment of national importance, remained publicly preoccupied with partisan political activities instead of personally leading the nation in celebrating the success of our troops and reassuring families whose loved ones remain in captivity,” he said.
Atiku further argued that the rescue of the Oyo schoolchildren should not distract attention from the broader security crisis facing the country.
“The rescue of the Oyo schoolchildren brought joy to the nation, but Nigerians are still asking: when will the children abducted in Borno and other innocent citizens across the country also regain their freedom? Those questions remain unanswered,” he stated.
He also urged the Presidency to focus on addressing Nigeria’s security challenges instead of, in his words, creating unnecessary disputes over opposition statements.
“A government secure in its performance does not invent silence where there was a documented public statement. It responds to legitimate concerns with facts and results, not propaganda,” he added.
Atiku’s earlier statement had criticised President Tinubu for allegedly giving more attention to politics than to the country’s worsening security situation.
He argued that Nigeria needed “a Commander-in-Chief, not a Campaigner-in-Chief,” noting that the rescue operation coincided with the launch of the All Progressives Congress’ door-to-door campaign ahead of the 2027 general election.
“No serious government should be consumed by the politics of re-election while innocent schoolchildren have remained in the custody of kidnappers for weeks,” he said, adding that “yesterday should have been dedicated to the war room, not the campaign room.”
The rescued victims were among 39 pupils and seven teachers abducted on May 15 after gunmen attacked Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esiele, and Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, both in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
They regained their freedom on Friday after spending 57 days in captivity. The Presidency has maintained that the operation was carried out without negotiating with the kidnappers.