The All Progressives Congress has postponed its Taraba rally scheduled for Wednesday to welcome defecting state governor, Agbu Kefas, and other politicians into the ruling party.

Criticised for holding a similar rally in Kogi State hours after 25 schoolgirls were abducted by bandits in Kebbi State on Monday, the APC, in a statement by its spokesperson, Felix Morka, announced it has postponed the Taraba rally.

“The postponement was made as a mark of honour to members of the armed forces and citizens killed recently by forces of terror and respect for victims of related incidents of abductions, especially of innocent students in Kebbi State by enemies of the state,” the statement said.

“As we mourn the death of our dear compatriots, we pray for the safe return of our innocent students taken from their families by forces of evil. Our great party commiserates deeply with families of victims of these incidents,” it added.

The APC said a new date for the reception will be announced later.

Nigerians had slammed the APC-led government after Vice President Kashim Shettima led APC bigwigs in a rally to welcome defecting politicians in Kogi State, hours after the attack on the Kebbi school.

Although President Bola Tinubu, in a statement by the minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Monday, vowed to rescue the abducted schoolgirls, his government was criticised for not prioritising the security and lives of citizens.

Mr Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the rally, told the crowd they were “gathered to celebrate the confluence of progressives,” and he was “honoured to share in the joy” of the moment.

Reacting to Mr Shettima’s trip to the Kogi political rally, an X user, @Godswilluv, said, “Are there any other irresponsible presidency out there in this world other than that of Bola Tinubu and his APC party? What a disgraceful mess that’s befallen Nigeria.”

Another X user, @Saliu_ayomide1, said, “Very insensitive government; all that matters to them is emptying the opposition. Imagine a brigadier general was killed today, 25 children kidnapped… yet the vice president went to Kogi to dance and celebrate. Very nonsense government.”

@ChiedozieOnyeke said, “We all know that the government of the day prioritises power grabs over its responsibilities, but one would have expected that they would read the room and pretend to care about the families affected by these incidents. Couldn’t they postpone the damn defection party? The government should be mourning and reassuring us that they are, at least, interested in providing us with security even if they are not.”

“Can you believe it? Twenty-five girls were abducted, and minutes later, Tinubu sends Shettima to welcome political decampees in Kogi. Leadership with no compassion, no empathy, just cold re-election politics for 2027,” @wai_ay53320 said.

The Kebbi schoolgirls abduction comes over a decade after over 270 girls were kidnapped from their school dormitory in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014.

Similarly, in 2018, over 100 schoolgirls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.