- ‘His call for human face to reforms resonates well with our Administration’s focus‘
The Presidency last night dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s alternative economic plans.
Atiku offered his views in a statement on his X handle.
But the Presidency dismissed the suggestions as cheap talk not unexpected from the loser of an election.
It explained that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is on the right track with his bold economic reforms and his efforts at mitigating the side effects of the policies on Nigerians.
Also yesterday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said the position of the defeated 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is “a long piece absolutely saying nothing.”
Atiku, in a statement he personally signed yesterday, titled: “What We Would Have Done Differently,” alluded to the claim that many people have been asking him what he would have done were he the president at this time.
The ex-vice president faulted the approach of the Tinubu administration to removal of petrol subsidy, the floating of the naira, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and how the refineries, among others, are being managed.
He said among others that: “We would have planned better and more robustly
“We would have been more strategic in our response to reform fallout
“I would have led by example. I (and members of my team) would not have lived in luxury while the citizens wallow in misery.
“We would have communicated more effectively with the people, with civility, tact, and diplomacy
“I would not run a ‘palliative economy’ yet, we would have a robust social protection programme
“We would have launched an Economic Stimulus Fund (ESF)”
But Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, in his “initial reaction,” said: “First, Alhaji Atiku’s ideas, which lacked details, were rejected by Nigerians in the 2023 poll.
“If he had won the election, we believe he would have plunged Nigeria into a worse situation or run a regime of cronyism.
“Abubakar lost the election partly because he vowed to sell the NNPC and other assets to his friends. Nigerians have not forgotten this, nor would they be comforted by Atiku’s antecedents when he ran the economy in the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government between 1999 and 2003.
“As vice president, Atiku supervised a questionable privatisation programme. He and his boss demonstrated a lack of faith in our educational system, and both went to establish their universities while they allowed ours to flounder.
“Talk is cheap. It is easy to pontificate and deride a rival’s programmes even when there are irrefutable indices that the economic reforms yield positives despite the temporary difficulties.
“Despite the futile attempt to hoodwink Nigerians again in his statement, it is gratifying that the former Vice President could not repudiate the economic reforms pursued by the Tinubu administration because they are the right things to do.
“His advocacy for a gradualist approach only showed that he was not in tune with the enormity of problems inherited by President Tinubu.
“It is so easy to paint a flowery to-do list. It is expected of an election loser.
“President Tinubu met a country facing several grave challenges. Fuel subsidies were siphoning away enormous resources we could ill afford, and there was criminal arbitrage in the forex market.
“No leader worth his name will allow these two economic disorders to persist without moving to end them surgically.
“While advocating for gradual reforms may sound appealing, Tinubu took measures that should have been taken decades ago by Alhaji Abubakar and his boss when they had the opportunity.
“Alhaji Abubakar calls for empathy and a human face to reforms. We have no problem with this as it resonates well with our administration’s focus. President Tinubu has consistently emphasised the need for compassion and protection of the most vulnerable.
“The administration has prioritised social safety nets and targeted support for those affected by recent economic transitions.”
What I would have done
Atiku, in a lengthy post on his X handle, said he would have repositioned the NNPCL and ensured that the nation’s refining infrastructure, especially the nation’s refineries, were revived.
He added that he would have adopted a phased implementation of petro subsidy removal, introduced a robust social welfare programme to make life meaningful for the vulnerable and drastically reduced the cost of governance.
The post partly reads: “I’ve been inundated with inquiries of what I would have done differently if I were at the helm of affairs of our country… I hope Tinubu and members of his administration are humble enough to borrow one or two things from our ideas in the interest of the Nigerian people; I would now go ahead and articulate some of our ideas that would have had the potential to transform our beloved country.
“We would have planned better and more robustly and my journey of reforms would have benefited from more adequate preparations; more sufficient diagnostic assessment of the country’s conditions; more consultations with key stakeholders; and better ideas for the final destination.
“We would have been guided by my robust reform agenda as encapsulated in ‘My Covenant With Nigerians’, my policy document that sought to, among others, protect our fragile economy against much deeper crisis by preventing business collapse; our document had spelled out policies that were consistent and coherent.
“We would have sequenced my reforms to achieve fiscal and monetary congruence.
“I (and members of my team) would not have lived in luxury while the citizens wallow in misery; we would have communicated more effectively with the people, with civility, tact, and diplomacy.”
Atiku stated that his administration’s consultations with stakeholders would offer greater opportunities for learning, negotiation, adaptation, and modification of policy goals.
He said his administration would have launched an Economic Stimulus Fund (ESF), with an initial investment capacity of approximately $10 billion to support MSMEs across all economic sectors, adding that his approach would have been people-centric, with the restructuring of key sectors.
He added that his specific governance strategies would have prioritised accountability by ensuring thorough reviews of public sector spending and practices while a commitment to transparency in managing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) would have facilitated a situation where only viable enterprises would continue to receive fiscal support.
Atiku also said his administration would have initiated a series of financial and operational audits aimed at reducing wastage and maximising efficiency in government operations and that procurement processes would have undergone significant reform to minimise corruption through a dedicated team tasked with monitoring and enhancing public financial management practices.
Acknowledging the contentious nature of subsidy removal, Atiku said it would have been managed in a phased manner to cushion its impact on the most vulnerable.
He explained that under his leadership, Nigeria would have embarked on a “gradualist” subsidy removal process, in contrast to a sudden elimination that risk destabilising the economy and citizens’ well-being.
