Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the deliberate withholding of appropriated security funds is directly responsible for the deaths of more than 17,000 Nigerians since President Bola Tinubu came to power, saying remarks by APC Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno had vindicated long-held opposition concerns.
In a statement issued by his senior special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said Senator Monguno’s intervention laid bare the deadly consequences of the Tinubu administration’s fiscal mismanagement and shed light on why insecurity continues to claim lives across the country.
Atiku noted that independent conflict monitors had estimated that over 17,000 Nigerians had been killed in violent attacks since the current administration took office, with thousands more abducted by terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
“These are not mere statistics. They are fathers, mothers, children, farmers, students and breadwinners whose lives have been cut short. Behind every number is a family condemned to a lifetime of grief,” he said.
He said the ruling party had spent months dismissing opposition concerns about budget implementation, security funding and fiscal transparency as mere politicking — only for one of its own senators to raise the same questions.
“For months, the APC dismissed every concern raised by the opposition about budget implementation, security funding and fiscal opacity as politics. Today, one of its own ranking senators has asked the very questions Nigerians have been asking,” he said.
Atiku said Senator Monguno had gone beyond questioning budget implementation to interrogate why duly enacted budgets were allegedly not being faithfully executed, why trillions of naira generated by the Federation were reportedly being held back rather than distributed in line with the Constitution, and why critical security agencies had allegedly received no capital releases despite the worsening security situation across the country.
“These are not allegations from the opposition. They are grave constitutional questions raised by a distinguished senator of the ruling party,” he said.
The former Vice President argued that if security agencies were denied funds appropriated by law to procure equipment, bolster intelligence, improve logistics and support operations, the government could not escape responsibility for the fallout.
Atiku also described it as deeply ironic that President Tinubu — who built much of his political identity on criticising former President Goodluck Jonathan over insecurity — now presided over what many described as a “Sidon look” presidency, content to offer condolences after each massacre instead of preventing the next one.
Invoking his traditional title of Zege Mule U Tiv II, Atiku said the philosophy behind it stood in direct opposition to such indifference.
“A Zege Mule does not watch from a distance while his people are under attack. He becomes their shield. He stands between them and danger. He provides refuge in moments of fear,” he said.
The former Vice President pledged that an ADC administration under his leadership would overhaul Nigeria’s security architecture, promising to ensure every naira appropriated for national security is released promptly and fully accounted for; restore intelligence-led policing; deploy modern surveillance technology; strengthen border security; improve inter-agency coordination; fully equip and motivate security personnel; and establish an effective community-based early warning system to prevent attacks before they occur.
“Nigeria does not need a president who merely mourns the dead after every massacre. Nigeria needs a president who protects the living,” he said.