Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the President Bola Tinubu administration of elevating poverty, division and hate to state policies.

Atiku, who spoke through his media aide, Paul Ibe, told Daily Sun, in a telephone interview that the present administration was in the habit of turning out policies that are allegedly not thought through all because of politics.

The Presidency, however, dismissed his comment as cheap talk, describing the criticisms as disconnected from Nigeria’s current realities.

“Talk is cheap,” the Presidency declared, in a statement issued by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. It emphasised that Atiku and his handlers were “clearly out of touch with the positive developments currently unfolding in our country.”

Onanuga criticised Atiku’s comparison of Nigeria’s situation to the upheavals preceding the 1789 French Revolution and the 1917 Russian Bolshevik Revolution as grossly misleading and a sign of disconnect from the authentic Nigerian reality.

Atiku, while reacting to comments by APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, that he (Atiku) was not in position to speak on the state of affairs, noted that every policy of the present administration is based on politics.

Morka, while featuring on Politics Today on Channels Television, yesterday, had said people like Atiku, who allegedly failed to address national challenges, during their time in government are not in position to talk about the perceived failures of subsequent administration.

“This Atiku, we are discussing, under his administration, in 1999 , these guys had a windfall. It was like manna from an oil windfall. What did they do with it. This same Atiku has publicly confessed about how they squandered 21 billion meant to give us electricity. Has he forgotten?

“When Nigerians speak about economic, I listen because they have a right to speak, but when people that has been entrusted with a mandate, authority to solve a problem and failed, when they come along to speak about the failures of subsequent governments, a man like Atiku, with due respect, on this question should be quiet."

In a statement signed by Ibe, Atiku had decried the spate of hunger in the country, saying it was unacceptable. He noted that whereas the primary objective of any government is the security and welfare of citizens, Nigerians are progressively wallowing in misery and poverty under the watch of the Tinubu-led APC administration. “The current situation does not give cause for cheers as it engenders an increasingly progressive propensity for criminalities in form of high-wire fraud, terrorism, kidnapping, cultism, drug addiction and ritual sacrifice, among others.

“The most violent socio-political eruptions and revolutions all over the world had often been powered by pervasive hunger and unbearable material conditions – especially the paradox of squalor amidst plenty in our land.”

Consequently, he noted that “the current unacceptable situation offers an opportunity for reflection, the former Vice President cited the French Revolution, the 1917 Russian Revolution and the Arab Spring in which a young man caught in the maelstrom of unbearable frustration set himself ablaze in a development which occasioned violent socio-political eruptions starting out from Tunisia to engulf the Middle-East and North Africa.

“Back home here in Nigeria, it may not be out of place to argue that even the “ENDSARS” protest was fuelled by the traumatising frustration of hunger and insensitivity on the part of the government.

“Whatever reform the Tinubu government might claim to be undertaking, the point remains that food insecurity is a daily occurrence nationwide. There is no government worth its salt that does not place priority on the welfare and security of the people.”

Atiku, who lamented that after the two years of the Tinubu administration, there are no signs that the government is capable of addressing the issue of pervasive hunger in the country, noted that the reforms by the administration should have a human face.

“Whether the present powers accept it or not, the reality of our existence is that the poor are increasingly dying of hunger while the majority of the living poor exists at the mercy of the ill-advised policies of this government,” he stated.

The former Vice President, in response to the APC spokesman, noted during his time in government, in the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, “there was abundance there was food. The GDP grew at an average of about 7 percent. In one of the years, it was 15 percent.

“They did infrastructure development. Communication. GSM, the way we know it, all the Fintech and all was as a result of the hard work. The Obasanjo Atiku administration set up the EFCC, which this administration is using now as a political tool to whip politicians in line, using it to ensure that everybody is shepherded into the APC, a one party dictatorship.

“That is the character of these people. Tinubu and the APC.Tinubu is not the President of the APC. He is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and whether we are members of the ruling party or the opposition, our interest is supposed to be taken care of by this government. But they have not done that. What have they done, they have introduced division in our body polity. We have never been this divided. Poverty, division and hate are now policies of state.

“They turn out policies that are not well thought through. All their calculations are based on politics. We are aware for example that the farmers that the Buhari administration had encouraged to go into massive farming, a lot of those farmers have now left, because of political expediency.

“They should stop majoring in minors in government politics. Roll their sleeves and get on with the work of governance. Nigerians are hungry. Nigerians have never been this poor. What are they talking about?”

Atiku added that “what we are saying is that we are asking that this leadership with what is going on and all of that, the level of frustration and anger, elsewhere we have seen that these things have engendered social political crisis. We are not asking for that.

“We are asking that they should reflect. It is time for reflection. It is time for them to turn around, begin to reappraise the situation and see how they can make life better for Nigerians, that is what it is about. Nobody is asking for all that. No..We are asking that they need to be conscious. They should be conscious of history and not repeat history. And make amends.”

The Presidency criticised Atiku’s comparison of Nigeria’s situation to the upheavals preceding the 1789 French Revolution and the 1917 Russian Bolshevik Revolution as grossly misleading and a sign of disconnect from the authentic Nigerian reality.

Highlighting concrete economic data, the Presidency pointed to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), stating, “Just today, the National Bureau of Statistics released its figures for August, showing that headline inflation has declined for the fifth consecutive month.” Further evidence of economic progress is seen in a “record trade surplus,” with the contribution of non-oil exports now nearly matching that of crude oil at a ratio of 48.52 percent.

On Nigeria’s financial reserves, the Presidency noted significant improvements, saying, “Our foreign exchange reserves are on the rise, now approaching $42 billion. When President Tinubu assumed office, reserves stood at $32 billion, much of it encumbered.”

The administration has also cleared over $7 billion in arrears, including $800 million owed to airlines, strengthening the country’s fiscal position.

The Presidency also pointed out the positive ripple effects at the subnational level, saying, “Under President Tinubu, Nigeria is recording unprecedented revenues. States are now able to pay salaries and gratuities promptly and still have surplus funds for capital and social projects, an achievement not previously witnessed at this scale.”

The statement rebuked Atiku and his party, saying, “Nigeria is moving in the right direction. In contrast, Atiku and his party remain stuck in the past, fixated on doomsday scenarios and revolutionary rhetoric.”

The Presidency reminded the public that “many of the challenges we face today stem from the economic mismanagement during the PDP years, when Atiku was Vice President.”

President Tinubu’s leadership, the statement affirmed, is marked by bold reforms and relentless effort to correct those errors. “After just two years and five months in office, we are proud of the progress being made. Atiku and his allies may choose to ignore these gains, but Nigerians can see and feel the positive changes taking place across the nation.” (Daily Sun)