Presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday , continued his attacks on Tinubu’s economic policies.
Atiku said contrary to the present situation in the country, his administration, if elected president next year, would provide affordable welfare and protection of life and property for all Nigerians.
He also asked Tinubu to explain how N750 billion was distributed to Nigerians without telephones.
Atiku made the comments while addressing a press conference at the national secretariat of his party in Abuja, titled, “Bola Tinubu Calls It Prosperity, But Nigerians Can Barely Afford To Live.”
The former vice president said, “From my first day in office, I will put affordability and the protection of life at the centre of government. We will begin bringing down the costs of food, fuel, and power, improving access to healthcare and education, and restoring security to communities living in fear.
“I will account for public spending and measure progress by what Nigerians can afford and whether they can live safely.”
Referring to what he called the unacceptable actions of the APC government, Atiku said, “Then there is your party chairman’s claim that more than 10 million Nigerians received N75,000 each in cash transfers—at least N750 billion in all. Professor Yilwatda says many beneficiaries have no phones. So how did your government identify, contact, and pay them, particularly in parts of Yobe and Borno, where insecurity makes access difficult?
“Did officials deliver the money by hand? If so, who delivered it and where are the receipts? If it went into bank accounts, show the transaction records. Nigerians are not asking you to expose poor families. They are asking for an auditable account of how the money reached them. If you could find 10 million people to pay, you can account for the payments.”
Atiku said, “Sixty-six years after independence, millions of Nigerians are fighting for things a free country should never put beyond their reach: food on the table, a wage that lasts the month, and a safe journey home.
“The past three years under Bola Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history. Families are not merely tightening their belts. They are skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday.
“And what has this government asked of them? More patience. More sacrifice. More faith in figures they cannot eat. While Nigerians are lectured about hardship, those in power preside over brazen waste, corruption and a budget process that makes a mockery of fiscal discipline. The people are told there is no money to ease their pain, yet government always seems to find money for its own appetites.”
Atiku added, “Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy with one announcement and no credible protection in place for the families who would bear the shock. Petrol, transport and the cost of moving food rose. He promised that the savings would benefit Nigerians. Three years later, the pain has an address in every home. Bola, where is the benefit?
“And beyond the market, our nation is bleeding. Armed groups have killed thousands and driven families from their communities. Farmers fear their fields. Parents fear for children in their classrooms.
“Families dread the call demanding ransom for someone they love. A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people.
“This is not the Nigeria our founders struggled to set free. But I will not ask you to surrender to despair. Despair is not a strategy. We have a path to recovery, and we must take it.”
He stated, “Today, Bola Tinubu told us that the ‘emergency treatment is over’ and the ‘age of prosperity’ has begun. A president may announce a new chapter in a speech. He cannot announce food onto a family’s table or money into a worker’s pocket. Bola, where is this prosperity?
“Bola says inflation has fallen. A slower rise in prices does not restore what families have lost. He cites growth and rising exports. Nigerian businesses deserve credit for what they have achieved. But growth must improve lives. It cannot be a certificate of success that government awards itself while citizens struggle to survive.
“Bola, you call Nigeria a patient with cancer. After three years of your treatment, why is it harder for Nigerians to buy food, pay for medicine or even get to work? Why does your government have more money while the people can afford less?”
Atiku also brought up the issue of allegedly unpaid local contractors, saying, “Local contractors who completed government projects remain unpaid. Many borrowed from banks to do the work and now face demands for repayment on money the government owes them.
“Some have lost their property; their representatives say some have died under the financial strain. Bola, why do your friends get huge contracts while Nigerian contractors have to protest to be paid for work they have already done? Pay the contractors. Publish what is owed and when it will be paid. Nigerians are entitled to know whose prosperity your government is building.”
He said, “Nigeria’s public debt stood at N166.79 trillion at the end of June, and your government is now discussing another $1.5 billion in World Bank loans. Before you borrow another dollar in the people’s name, tell them what the money already borrowed has delivered. Name the projects. Show what they cost, who benefited and who was paid.”
Follow us on:
