The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as selfish and “hypothetical taken too far”, the recent condemnation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration by the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The ruling APC was reacting to a statement credited to Atiku Abubakar on Sunday where he stated what he would have done differently on some policies of the government.
In a statement released Monday in Abuja, signed by the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, the party urged Nigerians to double down on their support for President Tinubu’s administration.
According to Morka, Atiku’s proposed Economic Stimulus Fund and Infrastructure Development Unit is opaque, lacking clarity and concrete implementation plans. He touts his five-point agenda that aims to restore unity, rebuild the economy, tackle insecurity, and provide qualitative education but bare on detail of how these may be achieved.
The statement described Atiku’s policy prescription as “a disappointing rehash of more of the same old disastrous policy approaches that brought our country to its knees, to begin with, under the PDP’s long rule.
“While conceding that he would have removed fuel subsidy and eliminated the multiple exchange rate regimes, Atiku offered an implementation plan that regurgitates the same tired and ineffective ideas that turned widespread corruption, inefficiency, and economic stagnation as pillars of state policy under successive PDP administrations.
“Atiku’s policy offering starkly failed to acknowledge complex contradictions, past mistakes and the extreme urgency of the moment.
“His gradualist approach to subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms have been tested before and failed to produce any significant outcomes. Specifically, his preferred managed-floating system unfairly favors opportunists and cronies who exploit and fleece the system for personal gain to the extreme detriment of the Nigerian people.
“Atiku’s gradualist model did not address Nigeria’s problems of old, did not fundamentally alter the structure of our economy, and cannot address our current, more complex, challenges. In a rational manner, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to intervene in the foreign exchange market, to provide some liquidity and reduce pressure on our local currency.”
While defending Tinubu’s policies, APC said: “Atiku’s relentless and indiscriminate condemnation of the administration’s policies for selfish partisan political mileage is hypocrisy taken too far. Nigerians expect and deserve more statesmanship from a former Vice President of the Federal Republic.
“It is now clear for all to see that Atiku’s stale policy prescription has got nothing on the robust economic policy framework now under implementation by President Tinubu’s administration.
“But Atiku has continued to gaslight Nigerians, inciting outrage and enabling street protests against the administration’s reform policy plan that is designed to rebuild the country’s economy that he helped to destroy as a two term Vice President under PDP’s wasteful years.
“Atiku is well aware that price increases are an inevitable consequence of implementing a unified exchange regime and removing petrol subsidy. There’s no magic bulwark against that. Atiku did not prescribe any.
President Tinubu remains committed to implementing bold, forward-looking and effective policies that address Nigeria’s complex challenges at their roots. President Tinubu’s reform agenda, tough as it may be, is required to build a strong, resilient, vibrant, prosperous and sustainable economy for present and future generations of Nigerians.
These reforms are crucial for stabilizing the economy, attracting investment, improving the business environment that supports growth and job creation, lifting millions out of poverty, and ensuring inclusive development. These reforms are expected to free up over N1 trillion annually for investment in critical sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, and social investment programs.”
