President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has berated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his accusation of fiddling amidst the security and economic challenges facing the nation.

The former vice president, who faulted Tinubu for embarking on a private trip to France in the wake of the incessant kidnapping currently ravaging the nation, said that Nigeria does not need another tourist-in-chief.

But in a statement on Tuesday night, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the accusation made by Atiku is baseless and reckless.

Onanuga stated that the latest statement made by the former vice president fell short of what is expected from an elder statesman after should stop playing politics with the insecurity facing the nation.

He said President Tinubu informed Nigerians of his private visit to France, and while in Europe, the President has been following developments at home, and he is on top of the situation in the country.

Onanuga said the President is in constant touch with his officials and security chiefs and has directed them to stamp out every form of criminality in the country.

The presidential aide asserted that Atiku is still suffering from his electoral defeat and latches on any issue to attack President Tinubu.

The statement reads: “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s statement accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of fiddling amidst some security and economic challenges is, to say the least, reckless.

“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.

“President Tinubu did not travel without informing Nigerians of his whereabouts. He announced a private visit to France and announced a return date.

“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.

“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.

“Just last week President Tinubu approved N50billion as Special Fund to address some of the lingering security challenges in North East where Alhaji Atiku hails from. To cope with the kidnapping challenges in the FCT, President Tinubu also approved funds for the acquisition of equipment to track criminals.

“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.