You’re consumed by hate and fear of Atiku, aide fires back at Oshiomhole

The Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has fired back at Senator Adams Oshiomhole, following the latter’s criticism of Atiku’s comments on President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Plateau State.

Atiku had at the weekend faulted President Tinubu for attending the funeral of the mother of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, in Plateau State instead of visiting communities affected by renewed attacks in the North-Central region.

The former Vice President described the President’s trip as “insensitive,” accusing him of showing misplaced priorities amid national grief.

Responding on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, dismissed Atiku’s criticism as unfair and politically motivated.

He argued that President Tinubu’s condolence visit was an act of respect and humanity, not politics.

“I have sympathy for former Vice President Atiku for thinking that even in matters of death and honouring the dead, politics must be involved,” Oshiomhole said.

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“As an elder statesman at his age, he should know better. Can anyone accuse the President of being insensitive just because he attended a condolence visit?”

Oshiomhole added that Atiku’s comments reflected “desperation” and an inability to separate governance from politics.

“Even if he went to pay his last respects to the mother of the APC Chairman, what is wrong with that? This was even on a weekend,” he said.

In a swift reaction, Atiku’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, took to his X handle (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, accusing Oshiomhole of resorting to sycophancy instead of addressing the real issues raised by Atiku.

“I have sympathy for Oshiomhole,” Ibe wrote.

“He is tailoring sycophancy with a designer touch and has allowed himself to be consumed by the hate and fear of @atiku.”

Ibe maintained that Oshiomhole’s remarks were unnecessary and reflected a broader pattern of deflection rather than addressing citizens’ concerns about insecurity in Plateau and other parts of the North.

President Tinubu’s visit to Plateau State last week sparked criticism from several opposition figures who accused him of ignoring communities recently attacked by bandits in the state.

Atiku, in his earlier statement, had argued that the President should have prioritised a visit to the victims of the recent killings in Barkin Ladi and Bokkos Local Government Areas, where dozens were reportedly killed and displaced.

However, the APC defended Tinubu’s visit, describing it as a private condolence trip that should not be politicised.

The exchange between Oshiomhole and Atiku’s camp has further deepened political tensions between the ruling APC and the opposition PDP, as both camps continue to spar over issues of governance and national empathy.

While Oshiomhole insisted that Atiku was “playing politics with death,” allies of the former Vice President have accused the APC of being insensitive to security failures across the country.

As of press time, neither the Presidency nor Tinubu’s media team had issued a formal response to the latest round of verbal exchanges.