In a sharp rebuttal to recent criticisms, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of political envy over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s impressive first-year achievements.
The APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, issued a statement countering Atiku’s claims that Tinubu’s policies are misguided and lack preparation.
In a sharp critique, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had accused President Tinubu of embarking on ill-conceived and hasty policies that have exacerbated Nigeria’s economic woes. Atiku labeled Tinubu’s administration as unprepared for necessary reforms, describing its approach as “trial and error” economics. He criticized the government’s removal of fuel subsidies, foreign exchange policy changes, and increased tax rates, asserting that these measures have only deepened poverty and economic instability.
Atiku emphasized that the administration’s actions have failed to create prosperity, instead leading to widespread hardship and escalating inflation, particularly in food prices. He also expressed concerns about the worsening security situation, arguing that Tinubu’s policies have done little to address the pervasive insecurity that hampers agricultural productivity and overall economic growth.
But the APC highlighted that Atiku’s critiques are fueled by bias and an unpatriotic desire for Nigeria’s failure, contrasting them with the tangible successes of Tinubu’s administration. According to the APC, the Tinubu administration has attracted over $20 billion in investments, with the Nigerian stock exchange surging from N18.12 billion in Q1 2023 to N93.37 billion in Q1 2024. The annual economic growth rate has increased from 2.5% to 3.46%, with key sectors such as manufacturing, telecommunications, and e-commerce seeing steady foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows.
The APC also emphasized Tinubu’s ambitious goal of building a $1 trillion economy, noting that he has assembled a team of experts and introduced comprehensive policies to achieve this target.
The party dismissed Atiku’s warnings of food scarcity, citing proactive measures by Tinubu’s administration, including the cultivation of 500,000 hectares of land and significant support for farmers. On national security, the APC defended the administration’s efforts to revamp the security apparatus and establish a Special Security Fund to combat crime, highlighting improvements, particularly in the North East.
The APC criticized Atiku’s economic approach, which it claims focuses on selling national assets to cronies, contrasting it with Tinubu’s substantial accomplishments in his first year. The APC called for Nigerians to support Tinubu’s vision for the country’s progress, urging them to ignore Atiku’s pessimistic and politically motivated attacks.
The statement reads: “The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has not let up on his vilipending of the outstanding first-year record of achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. In his latest statement, Atiku claimed that Mr. President was not ready for reforms, dismissing his policies as “trial and error.”
“Atiku’s self-serving efforts to minimize the bold, genuine, and metamorphic policies and interventions of the present administration only smacks of primordial political envy and crass desperation for the power that Nigerians have so wisely denied him. The former Vice President lives in an alternate reality of prejudice and unpatriotic desire for Nigeria’s failure so he may scavenge his way to an even more elusive presidency.
“Quite contrary to Atiku’s claim, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has, in its first year in office, attracted over $20 billion into the economy while the stock exchange has ballooned from N18.12 billion in Q1 of 2023 to N93.37 billion in Q1 of 2024, representing an increase of over 400 percent with an annual economic growth rate leaping from 2.5 percent to 3.46 percent. Key sectors of manufacturing, telecommunications, oil and gas, solid minerals, e-commerce, and fintech have continued to attract an increased and ceaseless flow of foreign direct investments (FDIs). Yet, Atiku remains willfully blind to the pace of progress that is so self-evident.
“President Tinubu set an audacious target of building a $1 trillion economy in the next few years and has put together a bevy of experts and professionals, and introduced far-reaching policies and programmes to drive the actualization of this desirable economic target. The President needs the support and encouragement of Nigerians, not the bile-filled pessimism of partisan Atikus.
“Atiku’s false alarm of an imminent food scarcity boldface ignores the widely acknowledged proactive measures already introduced by President Tinubu to guarantee food security in the country. In December 2023, the Federal Government set a target for the cultivation of 500,000 hectares of land across the federation. Cultivation of rice, maize, wheat, and cassava on over 246,231 hectares of land in 30 states of the federation is in progress in addition to approving massive grants and other incentives to farmers.
“The former Vice President’s swipe on the administration’s national security management again betrays his lack of touch with the reality of our current situation. Not only did the administration revamp and reconfigure the country’s security apparatus, but it also created a Special Security Fund to boost its superiority and operational effectiveness against merchants of crime and insecurity. Yet, Atiku turns a blind eye to considerable improvement in our security, especially in the North East where Atiku hails from.
“The same Atiku that accused the administration of lacking compassion for the people and failing to provide palliatives to cushion the transient onerous effects of inevitable and vitally necessary economic policies turns around to recommend a review of social investment policies he suggests were nonexistent. He also conveniently ignored ongoing serious negotiations with Labour Unions on the upward review of minimum wage for workers in the country all meant to improve their welfare while the benefits of reforms reach that certain fullness.
“Beyond his preferred economic blueprint of selling off our prized national assets to his friends and cronies, Atiku’s only notable contribution to Nigeria’s development has been his unquenched and unquenchable hunger pang for power for his less than altruistic purpose. Atiku cannot achieve in eight years what President Tinubu has accomplished in his first year in office.
“And yes, the occasion is the first anniversary of President Tinubu’s administration, not four or eight years in review. The opposition’s efforts to burden the administration with ceaseless, contrived, unjustified, and diversionary reproval are grossly miscalculated and misled. The sheer length of Atiku’s prevaricative epistle of a statement is a testament to the expanse of the administration’s policy and programme uptake in 365 short days.
“President Bola Tinubu remains unshakable in his commitment to building concrete blocks of progress and greatness for Nigeria. While Atiku and his band of mudslingers idle away, the President will continue, unstoppably, to deliver high-grade infrastructure not only in our nation’s capital, Abuja, but all around the country.”