The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday said President Bola Tinubu cannot condemn his proposal for Nigerians to enjoy a lower cost of living only to rebrand the same objective as Renewed Hope.
Atiku said condemning his proposal aimed at reducing the cost of living while pursuing similar measures does not amount to economic consistency.
His position was contained in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
The statement said the former vice president was preoccupied with engaging more important Nigerians.
According to the statement: “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.
“And that is where the contradiction in your statement becomes impossible to ignore. You condemn Atiku’s proposal to reduce the cost of energy as a return to the past, yet in the same breath promise that, ‘in the next few weeks,’ your government will provide cheaper transportation, increase food production and introduce relief for vulnerable Nigerians. Bola, why now?”
Atiku insisted that Nigerians have endured hardship over the past three years.
He added: “For more than three years, Nigerians have endured punishing transport fares, soaring food prices, crippling energy costs and wages that buy less every month. Families have skipped meals, postponed medical treatment, withdrawn children from schools and abandoned basic plans simply to survive.
“Throughout that period, your government repeatedly told Nigerians that their suffering was the unavoidable price of reform. Now, suddenly, cheaper transportation has become urgent.
“Why did Nigerians have to suffer for more than three years before your government discovered that economic growth must reach ‘the dining table and the pocket’? Why is intervention backward when Atiku proposes it, but progressive when you announce it? You cannot condemn cheaper living when Atiku proposes it and rename the same objective Renewed Hope when you promise it. That is not economic consistency. It is political convenience.”
