- Tinubu’s Initiatives Are Literally Uninformed, Arbitrary, And Chaotic- Atiku
- Urges President To Explore Other Alternatives To Address Nigeria’s Economic Challenges
- Nigerians, Global Investment Communities Trust Ability, Competence Of President Tinubu-Presidency
- Says Atiku Abubakar, His Cohorts May Continue To Bellyache
For the second time in about a week, former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the President Bola Tinubu over the state of the nation with the presidency also firing back at the former vice-president.
This time, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the first runner-up in the February 25, 2023 presidential election has faulted the economic plans of the Tinubu-led administration saying it has dashed the hope of Nigerians.
He noted that the economic policies of Tinubu are shrinking small businesses and causing multinational companies to exit the country in droves.
The Matrix reports that upon assuming office, President Tinubu had initiated some policies as part of his reforms to revamp the economy.
First on the agenda was the removal of the controversial fuel subsidy followed by the floating of the naira against the dollar in the foreign exchange market.
Those developments though widely acclaimed by the international community and the World Bank alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have led to widespread hardship amongst Nigerians as the price of petrol have tripled from the then price of N185 to about N650 now while the naira has been tethering above N1,000 in the official window.
Those reforms have resulted in mounting inflationary pressure and escalating high cost of living in the country, with an inflation rate of 28.92% as of December 2023 while the price of commodities and food items have more than tripled in some cases with many Nigerians groaning from the hardship.
Reacting to this, the former vice president in a lengthy post on Sunday on his X (formerly Twitter) account, emphasized that Tinubu needs to explore other alternatives to address the economic challenges in the country “before the economy sinks deeper into the abyss.”
“The economy’s performance has, in recent weeks and months, been a subject of intense discourse among Nigerian citizens at home and abroad.
“Nigerians are gravely concerned, and rightly so, that Tinubu’s poor response to Nigeria’s economic challenges is setting the stage for a prolonged and deeper domestic economic crisis.
“His economic policies, drawn from a so-called renewed hope agenda, are ironically dashing hopes, creating pain and causing despair. The private sector is shrinking by the day as small businesses are emasculated and as Multinational Companies, confused and weary of the economy, leave Nigeria in droves.
“The intense cost of living pressures has created more misery for the poor in towns and villages. There is hunger in the land as basic commodities, including bread, are becoming out of reach for average Nigerians,” he said.
Continuing, Atiku berated the administration’s 2024 budget proposal, describing it as lacking “concrete ideas and actions.”
He added that the President has demonstrated lack of capacity to deal with mounting challenges in the foreign exchange market.
According to Atiku, the free-floating of the naira was implemented without proper management, adding that the initiative is “uninformed, arbitrary, and chaotic.”
“BAT (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) has shown no capacity to deal with the adverse and disastrous impact of the new subsidy regime on the people and businesses and the new foreign exchange policy, which provides for a free-floating exchange rate. His initiatives are literally uninformed, arbitrary, and chaotic.
BAT’s palliatives are too mean, pitiable, and contemptuous of the poor. He seems genuinely lost, bewildered, and overwhelmed,” he added.
Firing back at the former vice-president, the Presidency has described Atiku’s criticisms as a new found hobby to keep himself busy, having failed to achieve his lifelong ambition of becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The presidency in a statement titled “Atiku Abubakar And His New Hobby” by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga noted that Atiku has increasingly carved for himself the role of opposition-in-chief to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his government.
“However, we notice that the former Vice-President, just like in his political contests, is also doing a poor job of it, offering pedestrian and uninformed interventions on our economy and other matters of public concerns.
Atiku’s latest diatribe was another uncharitable commentary on the state of the economy and the efforts of the President Bola Tinubu administration in remoulding it for sustained prosperity.
Nigerians can easily see through the hypocrisy of Alhaji Atiku, who in accusing President Tinubu of poor response to the nation’s challenges and causing pains and despair, didn’t offer any better policy options in his run for the Presidency different from the economic reform agenda being pursued by President Tinubu.
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All the major candidates agreed that the fuel subsidy regime, which had become an albatross on the economy, must end. They all agreed that the multiple exchange rates must be fixed. Where President Tinubu and Atiku differed was in selling NNPC Limited and other national assets. Atiku went for this so he could sell these important national assets to his friends and cronies.
President Tinubu removed the subsidy from Day One and announced moves to harmonise the exchange rates. Since then, he and his economic team have been working vigorously to harmonise the rates and also end the rampant and criminal arbitrage that the multiple windows allowed.
President Tinubu acknowledged, on different occasions, that the reforms his government is implementing will cause immediate pains, but will usher in an era of prosperity in the medium and long terms.
Minus Atiku, reputable local and international agencies who understand the situation the Tinubu administration found itself have commended the administration, having seen a policy trajectory that is clearly positive, realistic and sustainable.
Atiku’s claims that the private sector is shrinking and that multinational companies are leaving our companies in ‘droves’ are not grounded on facts.
His claim that the government’s policies have created intense cost of living pressures are also not grounded on facts as recent comparative cost of living indices show that Nigerians still enjoy the lowest cost of living in Africa.
Instead of mouthing platitudes every time in a bid to earn cheap political mileage, Alhaji Atiku who presumes himself as the leader of opposition should tell Nigerians what he would have done better if he had been elected President.
Atiku should be honest enough to admit that President Tinubu inherited a weak economy, which to all intents and purposes and to ensure the survival of our country needs a complete overhaul.
The economy was plagued by decades of significant fiscal deficits, a low revenue base, high external and domestic debts, and huge debt service burden.
The national budget Tinubu met in 2023 showed that 97 percent of revenue was to be spent on debt servicing, with little reserved for capital, thereby foreclosing growth and jobs.
Confronted with this grim economic reality, President Tinubu faced a difficult choice of balancing the political and economic costs of reforms against the risks of economic recession. His government chose the former, to keep the economy afloat and set it back on the path of growth and prosperity.
President Tinubu is focused on solving our economic and security challenges. The fiscal and monetary policies his administration is pursuing are delivering unprecedented value to investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Nigerian Stock Exchange is outperforming others in the world and is now the best, not based on bubbles, but record profits by many listed companies.
READ ALSO: Atiku Raises Alarm Over Implication Of Niger, Mali, B’ Faso From ECOWAS
The administration has also embarked on comprehensive fiscal and tax policy reform that will drive speedy recovery and spur economic growth.
Nigerians and the global investment communities trust the ability and competence of President Tinubu to deliver progress and shared prosperity.
While President Tinubu and his able team are working very hard to make our country better, ensure our economy is stronger and more competitive, Atiku Abubakar and his cohorts may continue to bellyache.
However, they cannot stop the serious work of nation-building already set in motion by President Tinubu” he wrote.
