Former Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of neglecting the welfare and security of citizens as the country marked its 65th Independence anniversary.
In a statement posted on X, the 2023 presidential candidate alleged that despite Nigeria’s abundant human and natural resources, millions of people were reduced to refugees and beggars in their fatherland under the current leadership.
“Hunger is killing Nigerians, bandits are massacring communities, yet President Tinubu and his cabinet stand by, unmoved and uncaring,” Atiku wrote.
“Every responsible government holds the welfare and security of its citizens as supreme. But what we have today is an administration that has abandoned its people.”
He stressed that Nigerians must rely on the ballot box as a corrective tool: “Oppressed and battered as our people may feel today, they will have the chance to sweep away this inept government at the next polls. That is the power no cabal can take away from the people.”
Reflecting on the nation’s progress since independence in 1960, Atiku lamented decades of poor leadership.
“At 65, Nigeria remains a giant moving painfully slow on feet of clay, a direct result of decades of poor leadership and wasteful governance,” he said.
Nonetheless, he added, with the right leadership the country could still “rise from the ashes of failed governance to reclaim its rightful place among the comity of nations.”
Atiku resigned from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in July 2025 citing irreconcilable differences.
He aligned with a coalition of parties led by the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Meanwhile, Tinubu since coming to power in May 2023, has introduced sweeping economic reforms including removal of fuel subsidies and unification of foreign exchange rates, measures that have triggered inflation and hardship but which the government insists are essential for long-term recovery.
