The Presidency has said the analysis by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has demonstrated his misunderstanding of the nation’s economic realities.
Responding to the opposition’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election analysis’ of the nation’s economy in ‘What We Would Have Done Differently’ narrative, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Atiku was being envious of Tinubu’s position just as he alleged that he was insensitive to the nation’s diversity.
He accused Atiku of selling the country’s assets at lower prices while he was in office as the Vice President just as he maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal policy had ended the corruption in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.).
Onanuga said: “Atiku’s economic analysis demonstrates a significant misunderstanding of Nigeria’s realities. His narrative, ‘What We Would Have Done Differently’, indicates an inability to engage with the pressing economic realities being revitalised multidimensionally under President Tinubu’s leadership.”
Debunking claims that Tinubu stole his (Atiku’s) Presidency at the 2023 polls, Onanuga said: “The truth is that Tinubu rightfully won the presidency, a position Atiku was simply unqualified for due to his arrogance, insensitivity to Nigeria’s diversity, and the decision to disregard his party’s power rotation arrangement between the North and the South after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
On the proposal that that Tinubu ought to consult widely before embarking on his reform policies, he said: “The reality is that the Nigerian economy requires immediate and decisive action. A leader must be prepared to tackle challenges from day one, as President Tinubu has done.
“Atiku’s idea of a consultation period upon entering office shows a troubling lack of awareness regarding the state of the economy, which was in dire need of urgent action.
The Tinubu administration came prepared with a firm action plan to address the shortcomings that persisted during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s time when Atiku was vice president.
“We can only speculate what detrimental impact Atiku’s proposed lengthy town hall and Village Square meetings would have had on Nigeria’s economy if he had been elected president and taken such an approach.
The country needed a proactive leader such as Tinubu, who immediately set to work on addressing economic challenges rather than one who would have squandered precious time on consultations and a questionable privatization agenda.”
Regarding Atiku’s allegations of corruption within the NNPC Ltd., the Presidency said: “The fuel subsidy has historically been the leading corruption enabler in the state-owned oil company.
President Tinubu’s removal of this subsidy eliminated the most significant incentive for corruption within the NNPC. During his eightyear tenure as Vice President, Atiku and his boss had an opportunity to address this issue but failed to make any significant reforms in the oil sector.
