On Monday, Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, criticised Bola Tinubu’s economic policies and approach to governance, saying they are harming Nigerians.
Atiku urged Tinubu to focus on refining his policies instead of targeting the opposition, which is not currently in power.
In a statement released by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku responded to a statement from Tinubu’s Government on Sunday, which he described as poorly crafted and insipid.
Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, had accused Atiku of being envious after his defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
In response, Atiku, through Phrank Shaibu, dismissed the claim, stating, “Jealous of Tinubu causing hardship for Nigerians? Absolutely not. Cruelty is T-Pain’s exclusive domain.”
In a statement Shaibu signed, Atiku said: “On July 8, 2024, Tinubu announced that import duty on essential goods like food would be lifted for 150 days. But over 120 days later, the policy is yet to take off, while Nigerians continue to die daily due to increasing costs, including food inflation, which now exceeds 40%, the highest in decades.
“The brazen disobedience to a government policy by Tinubu’s appointees and the failure of the finance ministry to issue a gazette after over four months reflects the fatuousness, inanity and incompetence that characterizes the Tinubu administration.
“Sadly, rather than focus on governance, they are preoccupied with verbally assaulting their opponents – Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi – while using compromised courts to foster crisis in the opposition. What a shame!”
Atiku argued that Tinubu’s poor performance over the past 18 months has made it evident to Nigerians that he entered office unprepared, leading to the numerous policy reversals that have marked his tenure.
He added, “Tinubu was obviously unprepared for office. He acts first and thinks of the consequences afterwards. This was why he announced an abrupt removal of petrol subsidy without any cushions. After seeing the effect, he then hurriedly decided to push a CNG initiative, which even he and his ministers have not embraced, hence their refusal to use it.
“The CNG initiative has so far failed to fully kick-off because of a lack of gas infrastructure in most states. The result is that transport costs continue to soar along with prices of food.
“In his mid-term expenditure framework, he projected an exchange rate of N700/$1 in 2024 and N650/$1 by 2025. Rather than sack his economic advisers, he continues to live in a fool’s paradise, deceiving Nigerians about the FX reserve of $40bn when, in fact, the net reserves are less than 20% of that. Let the CBN release its financial statements of 2023 if he is sure of his achievements.”
