Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has asked President Bola Tinubu’s government to practice what it preaches by embracing “Nigeria First ideals” and not primordial sentiments.
He also urged the government to unite and heal the nation and desist from making careless remarks about other countries or the patriotism of the Nigerian people.
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Atiku said this in reaction to two comments posted by Sunday Dare, a spokesperson for Mr Tinubu, on his (Dare) X handle on Saturday.
In one of the posts, Mr Dare made a case for countries to tighten their belts on the heels of the announcement from President Trump’s administration to impose tariffs in line with his America First agenda.
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In the second post, the president’s spokesperson tried to discredit the actions of political leaders in strengthening democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
But in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, on Sunday, Atiku, the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, urged the Tinubu administration to practice what it preaches.
“We urge the Tinubu administration to practice what it preaches by embracing the Nigeria First ideals in replacement to the self-entitled and other primordial sentiments it panders,” the statement said.
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Read the full statement
PRESS RELEASE
Tinubu sticks to ‘snatch and grab’ agenda with no plans to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy – Atiku
Late in the evening of Saturday, 2 February, the Special Adviser on Public Communication and one of President Tinubu’s Spokespersons, Mr. Sunday Dare posted two comments on his verified X handle.
The first post made a case for countries to tighten their belts on the heels of the announcement from President Trump’s administration to impose tariffs in line with his America First agenda, and the other post which came much later the same night tried to discredit the actions of political leaders in strengthening democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
The second post is a lame attempt to impugn the credibility of political leaders who seek a better direction for Nigeria, and, in so doing, Dare painted a picture of what is to be expected in how the Tinubu administration plans to take the next election in the country as “a combat and a fight” or better still the deepening of their notorious “snatch and grab” agenda.
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It therefore becomes pertinent to tell the Tinubu administration that last week’s gathering of political leaders across the country is aimed at fostering the ethos of democracy in Nigeria; making sure that elections in Nigeria are credible and that democracy is the vehicle for progress and social justice in the country.
We find it curious that the Tinubu government would react to these noble ideals as “Machiavellian inclinations.”
If the Tinubu administration could describe opposition in a democracy in the language of the era of Dark Ages, we find such behaviour as unbecoming and a stark attack on the collective impression of our hard-won democracy and the fundamental human rights that it guarantees.
The other post by Dare speaks to the “Tariff War” – by which the Tinubu administration seeks to interpret President Trump’s America First approach to international trade.
First of all, we condemn the careless remarks by the Spokesperson of President Tinubu on an issue that potentially affects Nigeria’s relations with the U.S. and other countries, including partner institutions in international trade.
That aside, it is a contradiction in terms that the Tinubu administration, which came into power on the philosophy of self-right to rule, will mock Nigerians on matters of patriotism.
We urge the Tinubu administration to practice what it preaches by embracing the Nigeria First ideals in replacement to the self-entitled and other primordial sentiments it panders to.
Nigeria has gone through all kinds of class, ethnic and religious divisions since the advent of the Tinubu administration.
This is the first government in the history of Nigeria that will put Nigerians on Band A or Band C on the cadre of access to social infrastructure.
We therefore urge the Tinubu government to unite and heal the nation and desist from making careless remarks about other countries or the patriotism of the Nigerian people.
Signed:
Paul Ibe
Atiku Media Office
Abuja
2nd February, 2025.
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