By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the withholding of appropriated security funds is directly responsible for the deaths of over 17,000 Nigerians since the advent of the President Bola Tinubu administration, citing revelations by Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as vindication of long-standing opposition concerns.
In a statement by his senior special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) said Senator Monguno’s intervention exposed the dangerous consequences of the Tinubu administration’s fiscal mismanagement and helped explain, in part, why insecurity continues to consume lives across the country.
He noted that since the Tinubu administration assumed office, independent conflict monitors have estimated that well over 17,000 Nigerians have lost their lives in violent attacks, while thousands more have been abducted by terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements. “These are not mere statistics. They are fathers, mothers, children, farmers, students and breadwinners whose lives have been cut short. Behind every number is a family condemned to a lifetime of grief,” he said.
