The economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government have been described by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as a “cocktail of trial and error.”
Atiku, in a statement on Wednesday, noted that Nigerians have nothing to celebrate about as Tinubu marks one year in office.
Alleging that the Tinubu-led administration is full of “deception,” Atiku mentioned that the present administration has been lying to Nigerians.
He alleged that while Tinubu claimed to have abolished the payment of federal subsidies, the federal government has been paying subsidies on patrol clandestinely.
“President Bola Tinubu, at his inauguration on May 29, 2023, announced the abolishment of the subsidy on PMS, popularly known as fuel,” he said.
“Ever since, it has been a bragging right of Tinubu and officials of his administration,” he added.
Furthermore, Atiku said, “I had in my statement reviewing the one year of the Bola Tinubu administration urged the government to come clean on the actual position of the subsidy policy.
“These were my exact words: ‘…provide clarity on the fuel subsidy regime, including the fiscal commitments and benefits from the fuel subsidy reform and the impact of this on the Federation Accounts.”
Atiku also lamented the prevalence of fuel queues at filing stations and the resurgence of the ‘black market’ who sell the commodity at exorbitant prices to the detriment of Nigerians.
‘It is curious that since April 2024, fuel queues have mounted at many filling stations across Nigeria, and the infamous ‘black market’ has sprouted in several states,” Akiku added.
The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 general election urged the Tinubu-led administration to come clean and reveal to Nigerians, “How much PMS is being imported and distributed, and at what cost? What is the implicit subsidy?”
“If the subsidy regime had been characterised by opaqueness, what would we say of a situation where the subsidy is still being paid under cover without Nigerians in the know?” he added.
Lamenting that the expenditure on fuel subsidies may reach N5.4 trillion compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the Waziri of Adamawa mentioned that “Nigeria is not working.”
He also added that Nigerians deserve better than a government that lies to its citizens.
“Like millions of Nigerians, I was shocked to learn through media reports that the ‘government is still supporting downstream consumption.’
“Now we know that expenditure on fuel subsidies may reach N5.4 trillion in 2024, compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the same year that Tinubu claimed to have abolished fuel subsidies.
“I wish to restate that Nigeria is not working, and what we have had in a little over a year is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies. Paying subsidies and lying about it is nothing to brag about. Nigerians deserve better than this deception,” his statement added.
