Presidency Replies Atiku Over Hunger Claims
The Presidency and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have once again locked horns, this time over comments by the opposition leader suggesting that Nigeria’s current hardship is comparable to the unrest that preceded the French Revolution of 1789.
Atiku’s remarks, which painted a grim picture of hunger and discontent in the country, drew a sharp rebuke on Monday from the Presidency, which described his comments as misleading and out of touch with reality.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency accused Atiku and his handlers of clinging to “doomsday rhetoric” instead of acknowledging what it described as positive economic strides under President Bola Tinubu.
Onanuga said: “Talk is cheap. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his handlers are clearly out of touch with the positive developments currently unfolding in our country.”
“Their claim that hunger is ravaging Nigeria, and their comparison of our situation to the unrest in France before the 1789 Revolution or the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, is grossly misleading.”
The statement cited recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics, including five consecutive months of headline inflation decline and a record trade surplus with non-oil exports now accounting for nearly half of the trade balance.
It further added: “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.”
“This administration has since cleared over $7 billion in arrears, including $800 million owed to airlines.”
The Presidency also claimed that state governments are enjoying unprecedented revenues, enabling them to pay salaries and pensions promptly while still investing in capital projects.
Positioning Tinubu’s administration as corrective, Onanuga added: “Ironically, many of the challenges we face today stem from the economic mismanagement during the PDP years, when Atiku was Vice President.
“President Tinubu and his team are working relentlessly to correct those errors, with bold reforms.”
With the 2027 elections already looming in the horizon, the fiery exchanges underscore the widening gulf between the ruling APC and the PDP’s standard bearer, who has remained one of the President’s most vocal critics.
