The Arewa Professionals for Democracy and Development (APDD) has faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s criticisms on the $2.2 billion foreign loan request from President Ahmed Tinubu.
Atiku, the 2023 Presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had claimed that the loan would be embezzled by the current government.
However, the Arewa group in a statement on Saturday in Abuja signed by its President, Engr. Moses Odaudu said Atiku’s criticism of the loan ignores key aspects of economic management and development.
According to the group, it was important to scrutinise government actions but also, it was equally important to consider the broader context and potential benefits of these loans.
He said: “He blatantly trivialised the strategic intent behind the loans by asserting that they are “bone-crushing” and bring “insufferable pressure” on the economy whereas when properly managed and invested in critical infrastructure and development projects, the loans can stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and improve public services.
“We believe what Atiku did was to project his value on the incumbent government with the implication that he concluded the loans would be embezzled because that is what would have happened if he were the president.
“This is even as President Tinubu has assured that his government will ensure transparency and accountability in using these funds, which should have been Atiku’s focus instead of the infantile tantrums he threw in the public opinion space.
“This is why we ask the former vice president to differentiate between constructive criticism aimed at improving governance and baseless accusations that can undermine public trust in Nigeria.”
Odaudu further noted that they noticed that Atiku’s criticism overlooked the complexities of international finance and the strategic decisions involved in securing favourable terms of borrowing, which caused him to dwell on the comparison of exchange rates while suggesting that the loans are poorly negotiated.
He said only such mischief made him deny the administration’s efforts to boost revenue collection through reforms in the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Customs as part of a broader strategy to enhance fiscal stability.
“In his desperate drive for public validation, it is tragic that Atiku unashamedly references something that should be forgotten by saying the administration of President Obasanjo, under which he was vice president, took the country out of foreign indebtedness, without telling Nigerians the truth.
“We challenge Atiku to deny that he was not a beneficiary of the commission on the loan repayment shared by Obasanjo’s economic team, which the former vice president once falsely claimed to have headed.
“We conclude by urging Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to accept that the trauma of serial loss at the polls and his advanced age imply that he no longer possesses the mental acuity he had for analysing national issues a couple of decades ago.
“Atiku must thus admit to himself that it is time to quit politics and refrain from intervening in national issues so that he does not allow his diminished capacity to lead some Nigerians astray”, the group added.
