Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has said that he did not lose the 2023 presidential election as it was criminally stolen from Nigerians.
Atiku said this on Monday afternoon in his response to a statement by the presidency, saying he would have plunged Nigeria into a worse situation as the president.
The presidency said this on Monday morning in a statement signed by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga in response to Atiku’s criticism of the current administration which has plunged Nigeria into an economic meltdown.
“I have taken note of the initial responses highlighting the striking disparity between President Tinubu’s faltering economic policies and the alternatives I have proposed. It is exciting to witness such a vigorous debate on these critical matters, and I sincerely hope that this discourse will ultimately benefit Nigeria and its citizens,” Atiku wrote on X.
“Furthermore, let me emphasize that the citizens who cast their votes in the 2023 presidential election are well aware that I did not lose; rather, we find ourselves in this predicament because the election was criminally stolen from the Nigerian people.”
Atiku said like many fellow Nigerians, he firmly believes that we find ourselves in this current economic turmoil due to the Tinubu administration’s hasty ascent to power, devoid of a coherent plan.
He said in stark contrast, his team not only devised a comprehensive recovery plan, but also welcomed significant input from Nigerians, ensuring that their approach was inclusive and well-considered.
“Isn’t it fascinating how the so-called “tested” Tinubu administration’s only policy response seems to be a national prayer led by the First Lady and the NSA? Just a mere 24 hours after I proposed my alternative solutions! What a bold strategy!,” 😂 Atiku said, adding a laughing emoji.
“In my humble interpretation of the scriptures, prayer indeed serves as a noble path to follow. However, the sacred texts also counsel us to engage in diligent labour and hard work.
“It is therefore uncharitable for Tinubu’s team to claim that my proposals remain untested. What remains unproven is the erratic, trial-and-error nature of the policies so far implemented by this administration, which elucidates our present predicament.”
The former VP called on Nigerians not to forget that under their economic stewardship between 1999-2003, Nigeria soared to the pinnacle of Africa’s economies, while Tinubu’s administration has relegated the country to a disheartening fourth position.
He said the average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration that he served in was 6.59% and peaked at 15% in 2002, 7.98% under the late Musa Yar’Adua administration and 4.8% under Goodluck Jonathan compared to the dismal 2.8% of the so-called “tested” Tinubu era.
“Enough of the pains of the shambolic “bolekaja” economic policy prescriptions! We cannot hope to tax our way out of the economic quagmire wrought by these misguided experimental policies of a novice administration,” Atiku said.
He stated that numerous nations, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Monaco (an EU territory with a zero-income tax policy), among many others, have emerged as economic powerhouses by fostering growth through lower taxation.
“Why then are we fixated on inflicting further hardship upon an already struggling populace?,” he asked.
“One can only speculate that Tinubu’s government is anchored to a mere Tea-plan, which can only lead to a T-pain.”
The former Vice President had earlier revealed what President Tinubu needs to do to differently to transform Nigeria.
Amid the suffering faced by common Nigerians, especially due to the rise in the prices of food items caused by the removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu, Atiku in a post on his official X account on Sunday said he had been inundated with inquiries of what he would have done differently if he were at the helm of affairs of Nigeria.
“I am not the president, Tinubu is. The focus should be on him and not on me or any other. I believe that such inquiries distract from the critical questions of what President Bola Tinubu needs to do to save Nigerians from the excruciating pains arising from his trial-and-error economic policies,” he wrote.
“However, I understand and appreciate the challenges faced by citizens in seeking alternatives to what is not working for them. I hope Tinubu and members of his administration are humble enough to borrow one or two things from our ideas in the interest of the Nigerian people. I would now go ahead and articulate some of our ideas that would have had the potential to transform our beloved country.”
Atiku said in general, he would have planned better and more robustly as his journey of reforms would have benefited from more adequate preparations, more sufficient diagnostic assessment of the country’s conditions, more consultations with key stakeholders, and better ideas for the final destination.
He said his administration as the president would have been guided by his robust reform agenda as encapsulated in ‘My Covenant With Nigerians’, his policy document that sought to, among others, protect the country’s fragile economy against much deeper crisis by preventing business collapse, with his document having spelt out policies that were consistent and coherent.
