Former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar has said that President Bola Tinubu’s national broadcast was uninspiring, deceptive, and aimed at persuading organised labour against its planned nation wide strike.
Tinubu had on Monday in a television broadcast and rolled out measures to address the economic challenges facing Nigerians following the removal of subsidy on petrol.
However, Atiku, in a statement by Phrank Shaibu, his Special Assistant on Public Communications, said Tinubu’s broadcast was a waste of time, done to dissuade organised labour from embarking on a nationwide protest.
Atiku maintained that the broadcast was an afterthought, stressing that the President failed to make proper plans before the removal of petrol subsidy.
The statement said: “Tinubu’s speech was hurriedly put together in order to dissuade the suffering masses and the organised labour from embarking on protests. Rather than apologise for removing subsidy without providing a cushion for the poor, he went about accusing subsidy thieves of being behind the current suffering. If he is sure of this, why hasn’t he arrested them?
“Tinubu also lied when he claimed that he had for years been an advocate of subsidy removal. This was a man who, in 2012, described petrol subsidy removal as ‘the Goodluck Jonathan tax’ and sponsored protests in Lagos State. “After he dubiously got to power, he lacked imagination on how to address the issue and then removed the subsidy but without a plan.
“Tinubu says he will provide N50,000 (roughly $60) to 1, 300 nano businesses. This is reminiscent of the dubious trader moni and the monthly N20,000 spent on the public works programme of the last APC government which not only failed to stimulate the economy but also worsened poverty as funds went into private pockets.
“What mechanism is in place to ensure that poor Nigerians access this? The answer is none. This is nothing but deception, as we shall all see in the coming weeks.”
Atiku dismissed the President’s plan to give 500,000 hectares of land to farmers in order to boost agriculture, at a time insecurity in the food basket of the nation had failed to reduce.
He said, “The Land Use Act puts lands under the purview of the governors. His so-called plan to provide 500,000 hectares is just part of the deception and a continuation of Buhari’s failed promises.
“Besides, just on Saturday, farmers were killed and others kidnapped in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. Till now, there has not been a word from the Presidential Villa.
“Most of the communities being attacked are agrarian communities which rely on farming. What sort of plan can you implement in the agric sector without first tackling insecurity?
“Shouldn’t the discussion on the increase of minimum wage have been done prior to subsidy removal? This is the height of cluelessness, putting the cart before the horse.”
