Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has hit back at President Bola Tinubu over his criticism of proposals to reduce energy costs, accusing the administration of making Nigerians endure years of economic hardship while promising relief only as the 2027 elections approach.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the central issue was not a personal contest between him and Tinubu but the inability of millions of Nigerians to afford basic necessities.
Shaibu, in a statement released on Tuesday titled, “Tinubu, the issue is not Atiku — it is why Nigerians can no longer afford to live,” said Atiku would not engage the president in a personal exchange but would continue to defend policies aimed at reducing the cost of living.
He said, “Atiku has more important people to engage directly: the mother struggling to feed her children; the civil servant whose salary disappears into transportation; the farmer paying more to move produce to market; the student being pushed into debt simply to remain in school; and millions of Nigerians whose daily reality bears no resemblance to the prosperity advertised in your tweets.”
The statement was a response to Tinubu’s recent remarks on economic policy, in which the president criticised Atiku’s proposals to reduce the cost of energy and dismissed the possibility of returning to the era of fuel subsidy.
