Nigerians Dying Of President Tinubu’s Harsh Economic Policies – Atiku Insists

By Ayodele Oni

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar on Monday, declared that  the greatest challenge of President Bola Tinubu’s  administration should be how Nigerians are going to survive the harsh economic policies instead of “fiddling while the country burns.”

Reacting to statement on Sunday by the Presidency that he was envious of President Tinubu, Atiku insisted that the focus of President Tinubu should be his economic policies and approach to governance that is killing Nigerians, and not attacking the opposition which is not in the saddle.

This was as he maintained that Tinubu was unprepared for office, saying that the president acts first and thinks of the consequences afterwards which formed why he announced an abrupt removal of petrol subsidy without any cushions.

Atiku, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, noted that on July 8, 2024, Tinubu announced that import duty on essential goods like food would be lifted for 150 days.

He however said that 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.

Atiku, also, stated that the brazen disobedience to 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 the 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!

“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 the exchange rate at 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,” he challenged Tinubu.

“Even on the economy, he put his kinsmen in every key position beginning from Finance minister, Trade and Investment, CBN, Customs and FIRS.

“Even President Muhammadu Buhari was not this brazen. Unlike Tinubu, Atiku is not a bigot. He has also not refunded money to the United States for alleged drugs trafficking.

“It is disheartening that during the last protests, some frustrated young Nigerians were waving Russian flags and calling on the military to take over. God forbid we return to those dark days, but leaders must not push their citizens to a point where citizens choose fire over frying pan.

“Nigeria is currently the worst performing currency in Africa and is now the 5th largest economy on the continent, falling from first when the failure called APC took over in 2015.

“Most Nigerians are at their wits’ end, not knowing where their next meal will come from. This should be Tinubu’s biggest concern instead of fiddling while the country burns.”