Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, asserted that his principal is diligently addressing domestic challenges in the country and ensuring stability in the economy. Onanuga made these remarks in response to recent comments by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
He clarified that President Tinubu’s private trip to France did not disrupt official state functions and emphasized that the trip was publicly announced to Nigerians.
“While in France, President Tinubu has been following developments at home and he is on top of the situation in the country. Today’s inauguration of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage bore his imprimatur.
“He is in constant touch with his officials and security chiefs and has directed them to stamp out every form of criminality in the country.
“He has particularly ordered them to apprehend those criminals responsible for the murder of two monarchs in Ekiti State and the kidnapping of some pupils in the state,” he said.
Onanuga added that the results of the President’s interventions in current situations in the country were already bearing fruits with the recent successes recorded in curbing kidnapping.
“We are already seeing results with the arrest of over 139 kidnappers around Abuja, Kaduna and Benue States in the last one week. The police Special Intervention Squad (SIS) and DSS have also rescued 154 abducted persons in the last few days.”
Mr. Onanuga added that President Tinubu has sanctioned N50 billion as a Special Fund to tackle specific security issues in the North East, and has also allocated funds for procuring equipment to enhance criminal tracking in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Onanuga expressed dismay over Atiku’s statement accusing Tinubu of being indifferent amidst prevailing security and economic challenges in the country.
“Coming days after he made an equally reckless allegation against the President on the crude for a loan deal for NNPC Limited, his latest statement fell short of what is expected from an elder statesman.
“If Alhaji Atiku is really concerned about security issues and not playing cheap politics, he should have known that President Tinubu is on top of issues and working hard to restore peace to every part of our country,” he said.
