…Says President must come clean on fuel import, ‘implicit subsidy’ regime
?
Former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, has reflected on the one year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu administration and declared that Nigeria was not working.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the opposition PDP in the 2023 general election, who stated this on the occasion of May 29 anniversary of the present administration, said it has been a year of a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies by the Tinubu-led administration.
He, however, urged President Tinubu to pause and reflect, adding that it was important that the government understands what reforms must be undertaken and in what sequence.
?
In an issued statement he personally signed yesterday, Atiku recalled that on May 29, 2023, Tinubu raised the hopes of Nigerians with his pledge to “re-model our economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and an end of extreme poverty”.
He also recalled that Tinubu spoke about growing the economy at double-digit rates to US$1 trillion in six years, ending misery, and bringing immediate relief to Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis.
The PDP former presidential candidate noted that Nigerians had breathed a sigh of relief after their experience with ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years of economic misadventure.
He, however, said that Tinubu laid out no plans for the ‘remodeling’ of the economy but soon embarked on a cocktail of policies to achieve it.
Atiku further expressed concern over the prolonged fuel scarcity and queues in the country. This is even as he challenged President Bola Tinubu to clear the air on fuel importation and the subsidy regime
He also tasked the President to make public the fiscal commitments and benefits from the fuel subsidy reform, including its effects on the Federation Accounts.
The former vice-president stated that the deepening security crisis in many parts of the country has negatively affected agricultural production and the value it brings to the economy, especially in the northern parts of the country.
