The Special Assistant on Public Communications to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Mr Phrank Shaibu, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s policies are harming Nigerians.
There has been a recent increase in the cost of food and other items making it tough for Nigerians to purchase essential goods.
In a statement on Thursday, Atiku’s aide lamented that the sharp decline in the exchange rate and the chaotic nature of government policies have invalidated all business projections made during the last quarter of 2023.
“The fallout of the shambolic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration is killing Nigerians even as there are no efforts to stem the tide,” Shaibu said.
Shaibu alleged further that the unprecedented hunger, poverty, and hardship in Nigeria is a deliberate plan by President Tinubu to further pauperize Nigerians.
“Tinubu is like a quack doctor trying to treat a cancerous patient. But the quack doctor is likely to kill the patient even faster than the cancer itself. This is the dire situation that Nigerians have found themselves in.
“Rather than get to work, he continues to blame his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, for handing him an empty treasury and a weak economy and the opposition for instigating mass protests. He talks as if Buhari was not a member of their diseased All Progressives Congress. He also forgets that his own ‘kabukabu’ policies and its fallouts are what is instigating the mass protests across the country,” Shaibu said.
Shaibu added, “Operators in the private sector of the economy continue to complain about how the Tinubu administration has led them into uncertain times, resulting in about 10 million small and micro businesses being closed.
“The free fall in the exchange rate and haphazard nature of government policies under Tinubu’s administration have made rubbish of projections made by businesses during the last quarter of 2023. The tragedy now is that a vast majority of Nigerians whose means can’t afford decent meals, unfortunately, contend with staples meant for animals.”
The former vice president’s aide who argued that half of Tinubu’s cabinet members ought not to have been appointed said, “Tinubu’s perspective on the economy had been limited by the fact that he had surrounded himself with his Lagos circle and had put loyalty ahead of competence in his appointment process”.
Shaibu stated that the assertion that Tinubu developed Lagos State has been undermined by current events in Nigeria.
“Tinubu clearly knew little about Nigeria’s economy as he had been limited only to Lagos, which had always had a formal economy. The President knew nothing about security or building a national economy, hence his over-reliance on IMF and other multilateral organisations,” he said.
Credit: PUNCH
