By Chesa Chesa
Aso Rock has again lashed out at former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar for criticizing President Bola Tinubu’s policies, saying that such outbursts are out of envy, ignorance and lack of understanding of economic ideas and management.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said that ”since his defeat in the last election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has shown more interest in undermining President Bola Ahmed Tinubu than in addressing his party’s implosion. We suspect he is envious of Tinubu’s position—an office he has unsuccessfully sought six times”.
Onanuga argued that Atiku’s economic analysis demonstrated a significant misunderstanding of Nigeria’s realities, stressing that while the former VP suggests a consultation period upon assuming office, “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”.
He further lampooned Atiku for claiming that Tinubu stole the Nigerian presidency, and declared that “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”.
The presidential aide went on to state that “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 privatisation agenda.
“Atiku’s critiques of Tinubu’s presidency are mere harebrained propositions devoid of realistic alternatives. He must reckon with the decades of mismanaged economy inherited by the current administration, including exorbitant subsidy expenditures far exceeding government earnings from crude oil.
“As of mid-2023, the landing cost of fuel was between N500 and N600, while it was sold nationwide at an average of N200. The 2023 budget allocated N3.36 trillion for fuel subsidies until June 2023 against a projected N2.23 trillion in oil revenue for the year. The Nigerian state was on life support.
Instead of conjuring imaginary scenarios, we expect the former vice president to engage with these urgent realities.”
