The Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has not let up on his vilipending of the outstanding first-year record of achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. In his latest statement, Atiku claimed that Mr. President was not ready for reforms, dismissing his policies as "trial and error."

Atiku’s self-serving efforts to minimize the bold, genuine and metamorphic policies and interventions of the present administration only smacks of primordial political envy and crass desperation for the power that Nigerians have so wisely denied him. The former Vice President lives in an alternate reality of prejudice and unpatriotic desire for Nigeria’s failure so he may scavenge his way to an even more elusive presidency.

Quite contrary to Atiku's claim, President Bola Tinubu's administration has, in its first year in office, attracted over $20 billion into the economy while the stock exchange has ballooned from N18.12 billion in Q1 of 2023 to N93.37 billion in Q1 of 2024, representing an increase of over 400 per cent with an annual economic growth rate leaping from 2.5 percent to 3.46 percent. Key sectors of manufacturing, telecommunications, oil and gas, solid minerals, e-commerce and fintech have continued to attract increased and ceaseless flow of foreign direct investments (FDIs). Yet, Atiku remains willfully blind to the pace of progress that is so self-evident.

President Tinubu set an audacious target of building a $1 trillion economy in the next few years and has put together a bevy of experts and professionals, and introduced far-reaching policies and programmes to drive the actualization of this desirable economic target. The President needs the support and encouragement of Nigerians, not the bile-filled pessimism of partisan Atikus.

Atiku’s false alarm of an imminent food scarcity boldface ignores the widely acknowledged proactive measures already introduced by President Tinubu to guarantee food security in the country. In December 2023, the Federal Government set a target for the cultivation of 500,000 hectates of land across the federation. Cultivation of rice, maize, wheat and cassava on over 246,231 hectares of land in 30 states of the federation is in progress in addition to approving massive grants and other incentives to farmers.

The former Vice President’s swipe on the administration’s national security management again betrays his lack of touch with the reality of the our current situation. Not only did the administration revamp and reconfigure the country’s security apparatus, it created a Special Security Fund to boost its superiority and operational effectiveness against merchants of crime and insecurity. Yet, Atiku turns a blind eye to considerable improvement in our security, especially in the North East where Atiku hails from.

The same Atiku that accused the administration of lacking compassion for the people and failing to provide palliatives to cushion the transient onerous effects of inevitable and vitally necessary economic policies turns around to recommend a review of social investment policies he suggests were nonexistent. He also conveniently ignored ongoing serious negotiations with Labour Unions on the upward review of minimum wage for workers in the country all meant to improve their welfare while the benefits of reforms reach that certain fullness.

Beyond his preferred economic blueprint of selling off our prized national assets to his friends and cronies, Atiku’s only notable contribution to Nigeria’s development has been his unquenched and unquenchable hunger pang for power for his less than altruistic purpose. Atiku cannot achieve in eight years what President Tinubu has accomplished in his first year in office.

And yes, the occasion is the first year anniversary of President Tinubu’s administration, not four or eight-years in review. The opposition’s efforts to burden the administration with ceaseless, contrived, unjustified and diversionary reproval is grossly miscalculated and misled. The sheer length of Atiku’s prevaricative epistle of a statement is testament to the expanse of the administration’s policy and programme uptake in 365 short days.

President Bola Tinubu remains unshakable in his commitment to building concrete blocks of progress and greatness for Nigeria. While Atiku and his band of mudslingers idle away, the President will continue, unstoppably, to deliver high grade infrastructure not only in our nation’s capital, Abuja, but all around the country.

Signed:
Felix Morka, Esq.
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC)