By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has told the presidency to read before attacking, describing its claim that he remained silent following the rescue of the abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State as a reckless distortion of facts that collapses under the weight of documentary evidence.
In a statement issued by his senior special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Saturday, Atiku said there are only two possible explanations for the presidency’s latest outburst.
“It is astonishing that a presidency with limitless public resources could accuse someone of silence without carrying out the most basic verification. Either they failed to read our statement because they were too lazy to do so, or they deliberately ignored it because it exposed uncomfortable truths about their misplaced priorities,” the statement read.
The reaction followed criticism from the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who had faulted Atiku for not publicly reacting to the release of the Oriire pupils and their teachers nearly 18 hours after they regained their freedom.
