Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has blasted President Bola Tinubu for not visiting Yelwata town in Benue State where over 200 persons were killed by suspected herdsmen.
Adebayo made this statement on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Friday.
Bellnews reports that Tinubu visited Benue on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, to commiserate with the people of the state over the killings of residents by suspected killer herdsmen.
According to Adebayo, the President’s excuse was not tenable, adding that he should have made sure that come rain, come shine, he got to the venue of the attack, Yelwata.
“He cannot say as commander-in-chief, there is a part of the country that is unreachable by you. People are living there,” Adebayo said.
The SDP chieftain also said the President’s visit was politicised and that the number one citizen should have been more empathetic to the plight of the people.
He said, “Going to a place of mourning that even during the Nigerian civil war, it would be newsworthy if there were 200 lives lost at one time.
“So, such a place is a somber occasion and he is in charge of all the people who followed him there.
“But what do you get there? It was like another political rally. That sombreness was not there.
“The president should have gone there as a chief mourner and his language should have been somber and his language should have been better controlled.”