Atiku Abubakar, former Nigeria’s Vice-President has blamed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove petrol subsidy on his first day in office for triggering severe economic hardship across the country.
In a statement shared via his X handle on Sunday, Atiku described the move as “hasty and thoughtless,” asserting that it has “buried the average Nigerian under the weight of inflation, hunger, and despair.”
He accused the Tinubu administration of failing to uphold its promise to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal by offering a temporary wage award to federal civil servants.
“In a bid to manage the self-inflicted crisis, the administration promised to pay a wage award to federal civil servants as a temporary cushion pending the conclusion of negotiations on a new national minimum wage,” he said.
“That promise, like many others under this government, has become a broken covenant.”
Atiku pointed out that it took the federal government 10 months to reach an agreement on a new minimum wage, during which time the wage award was meant to serve as a buffer.
“By implication, the federal government owes 10 months of wage award arrears to federal workers. Yet, only six months have been paid — and that too after a series of unfulfilled assurances and avoidable delays,” he said.
He further revealed that each worker is owed ₦35,000 monthly for four months, totaling ₦140,000 per person.
While commending some state governments for handling labour matters responsibly, Atiku criticised the federal government for exhibiting “callous indifference and utter disdain for workers’ welfare.”
He also condemned the continued detention of Andrew Uche Emelieze, a labour activist arrested nearly two weeks ago for attempting to stage a peaceful protest over the unpaid wage awards.
“Instead of engaging in dialogue or fulfilling its promises, the government has now resorted to tyranny and suppression of free speech,” he said.
“His only ‘crime’ was speaking up for workers abandoned by the state.”
Atiku demanded Emelieze’s immediate and unconditional release, describing his detention as “an affront to democracy, a slap in the face of every Nigerian worker, and a chilling reminder of the authoritarian drift of the Tinubu administration.”
“Let it be known: Nigerian workers will not be silenced, intimidated, or forgotten. The economic hardship is real, the hunger is biting, and the government has a duty to act, not repress,” he added.