Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has berated President Bola Tinubu’s private visit to France amid insecurity in several parts of the country.

Mr Abubakar, in a post on his X account on Tuesday, said Mr Tinubu’s administration does not seem to understand the country’s state of insecurity and “is playing fiddle” and assumes “tourist-in-chief” while the country burns.

“Tinubu is playing fiddle while Nigeria is drowning in the ocean of insecurity,” Mr Abubakar wrote.

“To imagine that the commander-in-chief is on a so-called private visit while kidnappers kill a nursing mother and grandmother in Abuja for failing to pay N90m ransom and two monarchs in Ekiti, among other regular tragedies besetting Nigerians,” he added. 

Mr Abubakar, 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, also suggested that the President steps aside if the administration is incapable of tackling the security challenges. 

He added, “If the shoes are too big for Emilokan, he should step aside. Nigeria does not need another tourist-in-chief. The country needs 24/7 leadership to confront the pervasive insecurity and collapsing economy.”

The state of insecurity worsened in recent weeks with kidnappers going on a rampage across the country.