The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed the Presidency’s claim that he remained silent over the rescue of abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State, describing the allegation as a distortion of facts.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said there were only two explanations for the Presidency’s position: either its media team failed to verify publicly available information or deliberately ignored his earlier statement because it criticised the government’s priorities.

“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,” he said.

Atiku said he had earlier issued a statement titled “A Nation at War Needs a Commander-in-Chief, Not a Campaigner-in-Chief,” in which he welcomed the rescue of the victims, commended the Armed Forces and other security agencies, and urged the Federal Government to sustain efforts to free Nigerians still in captivity.

To support his position, Atiku reproduced excerpts from the earlier statement, in which he described the rescue as “a moment of profound relief” for the victims’ families and praised the courage and professionalism of security personnel.

He also reiterated his earlier position that while the rescue was commendable, many abducted Nigerians, including schoolchildren in Borno and victims in other parts of the country, remain in captivity.

“The facts are now before Nigerians. We did not only congratulated the security agencies, but we praised their courage, professionalism and sacrifice in unmistakable terms. What we declined to do was 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.

According to Atiku, the Presidency’s allegation was entirely false and failed to address the broader concerns he raised about insecurity.
He maintained that Nigerians were still waiting for answers on when other abducted citizens across the country would regain their freedom.

The former vice president urged the Presidency to focus on tackling the country’s worsening security challenges instead of, in his words, “manufacturing controversies” around 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. Nigerians deserve a Presidency focused on rescuing every citizen still in captivity rather than one preoccupied with monitoring and misrepresenting the opposition,” he said.