The Nigerian Presidency has criticized former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, accusing him of misunderstanding the country’s economic landscape and displaying jealousy over President Bola Tinubu’s position.
This reaction follows Atiku’s recent public statement, “What We Would Have Done Differently,” in which he proposed alternative economic reforms and anti-corruption measures.
In a statement signed by the presidential Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency described Atiku’s comments as “unfounded” and driven by a sense of entitlement.
The former Vice President, who lost to Tinubu in the 2023 election after six unsuccessful bids for the presidency, has allegedly fixated on undermining Tinubu’s leadership instead of addressing his party’s issues, the statement noted.
“It is perplexing that he would elevate his untested, hypothetical proposal, which Nigerians soundly rejected, as a superior alternative to the Tinubu administration’s multi-faceted reform agenda,” the Presidency remarked, suggesting Atiku’s plan lacked popular support and would not resolve the “social and economic challenges” left by his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) after 16 years in power.
The Presidency highlighted that Atiku’s economic approach displayed a fundamental misunderstanding of Nigeria’s urgent needs.
Unlike Atiku’s recommendation for a consultation period, it argued that Tinubu’s decisive actions were needed immediately to stabilize the economy, which faced severe strains following previous administrations.
“Atiku’s critiques are mere harebrained propositions devoid of realistic alternatives,” the statement continued, adding that the current government inherited an economy bogged down by high subsidies and an overreliance on oil revenue.
The statement further condemned Atiku’s call for privatizing the four state-owned refineries, labeling it as outdated.
“In 2007, investors offered scrap-value bids for the Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries,” the Presidency noted, referencing previous unsuccessful efforts under the Obasanjo-Atiku administration.
The Tinubu administration, by contrast, is committed to a public-private partnership model to rehabilitate the refineries, support modular refineries, and boost production capacity through projects like the Dangote Refinery, which are expected to stabilize prices and ensure local fuel supply.
The statement also underscored Tinubu’s bold decision to remove the fuel subsidy, which it called the “largest enabler of corruption within the NNPC.”
It accused Atiku of hypocrisy, recalling corruption allegations from his past, including a U.S. investigation involving his wife and business associates.
According to the Presidency, the subsidy removal—a policy embraced by Tinubu—had a transformative fiscal impact, saving Nigeria over N5 trillion, which would be invested in infrastructure and social programs.
Addressing Atiku’s foreign exchange proposal, the Presidency dismissed it as a “dirty float” and an ineffective variant of the old fixed-rate system.
The Tinubu administration, it argued, has adopted a more transparent, flexible exchange rate system to curb forex subsidies, which previously cost Nigeria billions monthly.
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