![Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Facebook page of Mr Atiku.]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2024/05/Screenshot_20240531_201924_Facebook.jpg?fit=709%2C555&ssl=1)
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, says no administration in Nigeria’s history has inflicted pain on the people more than the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Atiku said this on Thursday in a statement he signed and shared by his spokesperson, Paul Ibe.
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President Tinubu clocked two years in office on Thursday, assuming office on 29 May 2023.
Atiku, a former vice president, was one of the 17 presidential candidates Mr Tinubu defeated in the 25 February 2023 election, bringing the president to power.
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In his assessment of President Tinubu’s half-year tenure in office, the former PDP flagbearer said the administration has deepened poverty across the country and set new records in wasteful public spending.
“No previous administration has inflicted this level of hardship on the masses while showing such disregard for transparency, accountability, and responsible leadership,” he said.
Atiku lamented that while Nigerians struggle to survive, government officials live in excess and “approve budgets that benefit the elite at the expense of the common man.”
Coalition, one-party state
He added that opposition leaders and partners are committed to Nigeria’s future and will not let democracy be reduced to a tool for elite control.
Atiku said opposition leaders are building a strong and united opposition coalition that will challenge this administration’s excesses, restore accountability, and return government to the people.
“We reject any attempt to turn Nigeria into a one-party state where dissent is silenced and power is abused,” he said.
“We will protect the right of every Nigerian to freely choose their leaders, and we will continue to fight for economic justice, political freedom, and national progress,” the former vice president said.
Borrowing
Atiku criticised the public borrowings under Mr Tinubu, which he said rose from N49 trillion to N183 trillion.
He said while the federal government racks up debt, state governments have shown more discipline, reducing their debt levels from N5.86 trillion to N3.97 trillion.
He noted that the implication is that the federal government, under Mr Tinubu, is the primary driver of Nigeria’s current debt crisis.
He said, “President Tinubu’s justification — that new borrowing is needed to fund the 2025 budget and soften the impact of fuel subsidy removal — is both weak and dishonest. It was the reckless and insensitive way his government removed the subsidy that created much of today’s economic hardship in the first place.
“Today, Nigeria is a nation where the rich get richer, and the poor are punished for trying to survive. This reality cannot and will not be ignored.”
READ ALSO: Atiku speaks on Tinubu’s new borrowing plan
Atiku said Mr Tinubu’s policies have negatively targeted the poor and provided relief and advantage to the rich.
“From healthcare to education to identity management and basic public services, Nigerians are now faced with class-based systems where the wealthy enjoy VIP treatment, and the rest are left behind,” he said.
“Just two weeks ago, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) hiked its fees by 75 per cent, introducing VIP protocols for services that should be a basic right of citizenship. In education, public university fees have been raised far beyond the reach of poor families, with no adequate support mechanisms in place.”
