The Labour Party (LP) has attacked President Bola Tinubu over his frequent foreign trips, saying that Nigerians would prefer he remained at home to tackle pressing governance issues.

Tinubu had on Thursday, jetted out to the United Kingdom on a 10-day vacation trip that would also spend part of his time in France.

However, reacting in a statement released on Saturday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Tony Akeni, the LP said “Tinubu should end his nomadic vacations and give Nigerians real governance.”

The party claimed that Tinubu left behind in Nigeria 135million citizens it said were thrown into extreme poverty by his 18-month administration.

“As President Tinubu takes to the sky, he leaves behind a country ravaged by economic hardship where 135million citizens fell into poverty in the first 18months of his administration, caused by his difficult economic policies.

“Tinubu also leaves behind insecurity of historic proportions where 57 Nigerians die every day from various forms of violent death. This amounts to seven deaths more than Ukraine’s war casualties, which loses 50 citizens per day in its full-scale war with Russia, according to research by Mediazona and The Book of Memory Group, corroborated by a similar BBC study.

“The Nigerian casualty figures exclude deaths from daily traffic accidents, Nigeria’s frequent boat mishaps and other civil hazards”, the LP stated.

Calling on the government to build well-equipped health facilities in Nigeria, the LP noted that Nigerians could no longer accommodate “At-Home-Abroad (AHA) nomadic” leaders.

The party continued, “You will recall that President Tinubu had only sat in office for four months after his swearing in on May 29, 2023, when he flew overseas on his first annual vacation. This was on October 2, 2023.

“This means that under the APC governance manual, four months made up one year for the Nigerian president to go on an annual vacation. This is historic for a post-inaugural president because it doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.

“Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has travelled and virtually ‘lived’ outside Nigeria for nearly 160 days. This is almost half of an entire year in only two years of office.

“Tracing this unproductive trend backwards to Buhari’s days, records show that APC produces dinner and toothpick presidents who eat breakfast in Abuja, have lunch in Paris and belch in London. They enjoy costly vacations abroad like children enjoy excursions to amusement parks.

“From Buhari’s administration to Tinubu’s current rule, that is the only reason why billions of naira they vote every year for the Aso Villa presidential clinic perpetually empty into unknown pockets and the clinic’s medicine shelves do not have drugs for even cramps.

“Nigeria of today can no longer afford At-Home-Abroad (AHA) nomadic leaders who have deliberately failed to build international standard health facilities in their own country but rather travel overseas for expensive extended periods, leaving their citizens trapped and helpless in the country’s dangerous healthcare system, biting economic hardship, insecurity and all-round sufferings of our country’s citizens.

“From late Buhari to Tinubu, APC has continued to produce nomad presidents whose medical and social tourism cost our country billions of naira in taxpayers’ money.

“Nigerians must ensure that the syndrome of AHA Presidents ends in 2027 by ending the APC run of our country and opting for a political party and president who will prioritize building for Nigerians global standard health facilities supremely equipped to treat the No. 1 citizen and presidents of other countries, thereby saving and additionally earning significant revenues for the country.

“That is one of the promises and dividends of true democracy which the Labour Party stands for and will attain for Nigerians.” (Nigerian Tribune)

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