Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expresse worry over reports that 5,091 Nigerians were killed in violent incidents across the country within three months, saying the situation reflected that President Bola Tinubu’s scorecard was soaked in blood.
The former vice president, however, pledged support to the recent announcement by the federal government to increase the salaries of members of the armed forces.
Atiku said the report was a damning scorecard of the Tinubu administration’s inability to maintain the constitution on the protection of lives and property.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the figures were not merely statistics but a grim measure of the human cost of insecurity and the consequences of a government that has failed to match its rhetoric with the resources, discipline and urgency required to protect Nigerians.
According to the statement released Sunday, the former vice-president said. “Behind every number is a Nigerian, whose life was cut short, a family thrown into mourning, children deprived of parents and communities condemned to fear.
“Five thousand and ninety-one reported killings in just three months should trouble the conscience of any government.”
Atiku said Nigeria’s worsening insecurity could not be separated from the Tinubu administration’s fiscal indiscipline, wasteful expenditure and poor implementation of budgetary appropriations.
“These figures are the human cost of every padded budget, every frivolous expenditure and every failure to fully implement funds appropriated for critical national priorities.
“You cannot run the public treasury as though it were a private purse, squander scarce resources on questionable priorities and then expect soldiers and other security personnel on the front lines to perform miracles.
“The continued pattern of treating fiscal appropriation as an inconvenience while public resources are diverted to wasteful and politically expedient projects undermines national security and impedes the capacity of our Armed Forces and other security agencies to respond decisively to threats,” the ADC presidential candidate stated
Welcoming the recent pay increase for military personnel, Atiku said improved remuneration, while necessary, represented only a fraction of what was required to restore morale and strengthen operational effectiveness, particularly among troops fighting on the frontlines.
“Our soldiers deserve better pay, but morale is about much more than salaries. They require adequate equipment, operational funding, timely allowances, proper welfare for their families and the assurance that the government they defend is as committed to their mission as they are.”
Atiku said Nigerians deserved a government that cuts waste, eliminates questionable expenditure and substantially improves the implementation of budgetary appropriations, particularly for defence and security.
“A government that cannot protect its citizens has failed the first test of governance. Nigerians cannot continue to pay with their lives for the failures, waste and misplaced priorities of an administration that has failed in its most basic constitutional duty.
“Every Nigerian needlessly lost to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes represents a failure of the state. These are not mere statistics. They were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, breadwinners and citizens who had every right to expect protection from their government.
“Today, we have 5,091 reported killings in just three months, 5,091 shattered families, 5,091 indictments of this administration’s security failures, and ultimately, 5,091 reasons this government must go,” he said.