He Should Know Better! Oshiomhole Rips Into Atiku Over Insensitive Political Comments

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, has strongly criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his remarks on President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Plateau State.

Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), faulted Tinubu for attending the funeral of the mother of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, in Plateau, instead of visiting communities devastated by insecurity.

Reacting during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Oshiomhole accused Atiku of politicising a matter that deserved empathy and respect for the dead. He defended Tinubu’s decision, saying it was unfair to brand the condolence visit as insensitive.

“I sympathise with former Vice President Atiku for believing that even in matters of death and honouring the departed, politics must be dragged in. At his age, as an elder statesman, he should know better,” Oshiomhole stated.

“Can anyone honestly accuse the President of insensitivity because he attended a condolence visit? What’s wrong with paying last respects to the APC Chairman’s mother—on a weekend, no less?” he added.

The former Edo governor recalled his days as President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), stressing that Atiku’s time in office was far from spotless. “I was practically a one-man opposition when Atiku was Vice President. They forget too easily what they did in government. Instead of engaging in meaningful debate about policy options, they trivialise politics with shallow arguments about empathy,” he said.

Oshiomhole further urged Atiku to rise above bitterness, warning that his fixation on partisan attacks diminishes his stature.

“In politics, people often see everything through partisan eyes. But someone of Atiku’s standing ought to be more than that,” he concluded.