The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that Nigerians are essentially funding corruption and inefficiencies within the Federal Government.
Atiku made this assertion in a statement released on Tuesday to commemorate this year’s International Workers Day.
On May 1, International Workers’ Day is celebrated worldwide, with many nations acknowledging workers’ achievements and advocating for fair compensation and better working conditions through demonstrations and marches.
The theme for this year’s Workers’ Day is “Ensuring Safety and Health at Work in a Changing Climate.”
The former Vice President, who characterised the dire situation of Nigerian workers as a harsh reality, asserted that no administration has disregarded workers’ rights to the extent of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He stated “Despite prolonged pledges and flowery words by the government, the much talked-about prospects of wage increment for the Nigerian worker remains a mirage. Every dawn unveils renewed hardships and harsh living conditions.
“After the contraction and contradictions by the government about whether the subsidy regime has gone or it is still being implemented, the country is today facing the angst of frustration by Nigerians who waste precious man-hours in queues at petrol stations across the country.”
He added that although the petrol subsidy has supposedly been removed, its effects persist, exposing the incompetence of the present federal government.
Atiku said “In an unprecedented manner and condescending of both the Nigerian worker and the general public, this current federal government announced a unilateral removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit without consultations with representatives of the Nigerian worker.
“The continued increase in tariffs in different service offerings without addressing the corruption and inefficiencies in the system only amounts to long-suffering Nigerians subsidising the corruption and inefficiencies in the system.
“Since the days of legendary, Pa. Michael Imoudu, to later day firebrands such as Pascal Bafyau and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Nigerian worker has been at the forefront of the fight against tyranny and bad governance.
“No administration in our history has trampled workers’ rights like this one. Daily, workers face uncertainty over skyrocketing prices of essential goods.”
Atiku stated that the handling of the nation’s microeconomic situation resembles a cumbersome laboratory experiment, leaving the Nigerian worker in a vulnerable position.
“The Nigerian worker has had it so rough under this current administration and it is unfortunate that while the living conditions of the Nigerian worker remain at a miserably low ebb, the Nigerian government continues to regale its international audiences with tales of how the masses are being weaned of their wasteful dependence on government.
“It is thus beginning to appear, that as far as the current federal government is concerned, the management of our country’s micro-economic outlook is an unwieldy laboratory experiment, to which the Nigerian worker is laid prostrate.
“While I cannot but share my sympathy with the Nigerian worker for the way the current government has ridiculed her for far too long, I must equally express my felicitations with the Nigerian worker on this year’s Workers Day”, he concluded.
[Punch]