The Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation has said the entitlement mentality of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, should be blamed for Nigeria’s current economic woes.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Spokesperson of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja, on Saturday.
He informed Nigerians that it was Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who set the stage for the national economic setback of our nation and must take responsibility for his actions.
Ologbondiyan said, “The Atiku/Okowa campaign recalls how Tinubu led a vicious anti-people campaign against the introduction of gradual removal of fuel subsidy which had accompanying palliatives that was cushioning the effects of subsidy on Nigerians.
“The Campaign also recalls how Tinubu reportedly engineered and masterminded the reckless and shady increase in the subsidy payment by the Buhari administration without evidence of corresponding increase in the volume of fuel consumed by Nigerians.
“Moreover, the APC Presidential Candidate has looked the other way on the problematic crude oil theft in which our nation loses more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil amounting to over N23 billion naira every day and a staggering yearly N6 trillion, higher than the federal Capital Budget for 2023.“
According to him, the PDP campaign is already aware that Nigerians know the fact that Tinubu is not worried about fuel and new naira notes scarcity but concerned that the situation was affecting his life ambition of turning Nigeria into his economic empire and fiefdom.
He explained that If Tinubu was ever concerned about Nigerians, what effort did he make to get the government, where he is the national leader, to address the worsening economy, the abysmal living standard and our national descent as one of the fastest growing economies of the world under the PDP to the poverty capital of the world under his APC?
The PDP Campaign further said it is on record that under this government, which he brought into power and made many appointments into, inflation and unemployment have galloped; millions of Nigerians have lost their jobs and many more can no longer afford their daily meals due to the astronomical cost of living. What were the consoling words of Tinubu to Nigerians?
The spokesperson equally stressed that It is also important to ask Tinubu the advice he provided his government when Nigerians began to take their own lives by jumping into the lagoon in Lagos State out of frustration while others were forced into slavery mission abroad as an option to dying of hunger and acute poverty under Tinubu’s APC.
He said, “Today, many Nigerian youths are ‘japaing’ in droves to the UK, US, Canada or Republic of Benin, yet Tinubu is unconcerned.
“It is appalling that due to the harsh and anti-people economic policies engineered by Tinubu and the government he installed, the naira has lost value under this administration from N199 to a dollar to N760, which contributed to rising costs and forced several businesses to shut down.
“While Nigerians were suffering these untold hardships, Tinubu had no words of consolation for them. He only remembered the cost of the naira, the non-availability of fuel as well as the new cash crunch when he mounted soapbox to campaign for his failed Presidential life ambition.
“How can Tinubu posture as if he has concern for Nigerians whereas in the almost eight years when banditry, kidnapping and acts of terrorism in the north and other parts of the country went on unchecked with mindless killings, maiming and wanton destruction of public and private property, he had nothing to say.
“Only yesterday, a judiciary officer was shot in his chambers in Imo State. Why is Tinubu unconcerned about all these.
“Furthermore, many farmers across the country are unable to go to their farmlands and herders are unable to graze their herds due to the rising insecurity, just as the number of Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) camps continue to grow. How did Tinubu show concern in all of these?
“Under the administration that Tinubu, by his own words, installed, Nigeria’s debt has recorded an astronomical rise to N77 trillion even with allegations that the borrowed funds are being diverted to APC interests. When will Tinubu be concerned about this national malaise?
“It is clear that Tinubu is not interested in our national challenges but in the Presidential race for his “Emilokan” agenda. For this, Nigerians are set to reject him with a shattering defeat on February 25.
“Nigerians know better and will overwhelmingly elect the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, who has over the years remained committed to the wellbeing of Nigerians and shown selflessness, integrity, capacity, experience, competence and readiness to return our nation to the path of unity, economic prosperity and national cohesion.”
