The Presidency has fired back at former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, syaing isn’t ignorant and playing blind if he could not see the progress the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s adminstration is making to take Nigeria out of the doldrums.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Tinubu on information and strategy stated this while responding to Abubakar’s assessment of Tinubu’s second year in office.
Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accused the administration of exacerbating poverty and economic hardship, describing it as the most punishing government in Nigeria’s history.
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“No previous administration has inflicted this level of hardship on the masses while showing such disregard for transparency, accountability, and responsible leadership,” Atiku said in a statement released by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe.
However, Onanuga in the statement issued on Friday, said, “Atiku’s sweeping criticism is unfair and appears to be driven more by animosity than objective analysis.”
“Unless former Vice President Atiku allowed personal grievances to cloud his judgment, he should, in good conscience, acknowledge the significant progress and positive achievements made by this administration over the past two years.”
The aide said Tinubu never promised that his reforms would be painless but was clear that they were necessary to save the country from the brink of fiscal collapse due to unsustainable spending.
Onanuga said the removal of subsidy on petrol and unification of the foreign exchange market were policies previous administrations deemed imperative but failed to implement.
He said unlike Abubakar and a few critics, “everyone” agrees the reforms have stabilised government finances, reduced systemic corruption, and attracted direct investments into social programmes and infrastructure.
“Foreign investors now see Nigeria as an irresistible destination. Since 2023, the Nigerian exchange has seen its ASI jump from 50,000 to over 110,000, and market capitalisation has increased to N69.4 trillion, from about N30 trillion before Tinubu’s ascension,” he said.
Faulting Atiku’s assertion that Tinubu’s policies only favour the rich while punishing the poor, Onanuga said the president has implemented social safety nets, introduced targeted interventions for low-income households and increased the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000.
Onanuga said Atiku’s remark that education has become out of reach for poor Nigerians is “entirely off the mark”.
“Everyone knows the claim is false. It is just an attempt to throw any muck at Bola Tinubu,” he said.
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Unless Atiku “still lives in Dubai, he ought to admit that in just two years”, Mr Tinubu “has embarked on the most ambitious and audacious economic and institutional reforms ever seen in decades,” stated Onanuga.
“Nigerians deserve opposition leaders who offer solutions, not just criticism. We invite all Nigerians to judge this administration by its actions, not by the rhetoric of those who have had their opportunities to lead and who bungled the chance in years past, sold national assets for pittance, and shortchanged their compatriots,” the statement pointed out.
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