Politics
THE 2023 presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly the unification of the exchange rate, were hastily implemented without adequate planning and consultations with stakeholders.
Atiku said in a statement yesterday that he knew the economy of the country was heading for the ditch at the twilight of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, and criticised Tinubu for not effectively presenting his administration’s measures to address the ongoing economic crisis affecting the nation.
He said: “At a meeting called at his instance on Thursday to address the foreign exchange crisis and the problem of economic downturn, among others, Bola Tinubu failed, yet again, to showcase any concrete policy steps that his administration is taking to contain the crises of currency fluctuation and poverty that face the country.
“Rather, he told the country and experts who have been offering ideas on how to resolve the crisis that he and his team should not be distracted and allowed time to continue cooking their cocktail that has brought untold hardship to the people of Nigeria.
“The wrong policies of the Tinubu administration continue to cause untold pain and distress on the economy and the rest of us cannot keep quiet when the government has demonstrated sufficient poverty of ideas to redeem the situation.
“If the government will not hold on to their usual hubris, there are ways that the country can walk out of the current crisis.
“After a careful assessment of the state of our economy at the twilights of the last administration, I knew full well that the economy of the country was heading for the ditch and came up with a number of policy prescriptions that would rescue the country from getting into the mess that we are currently in.”
Atiku recalled that in his 2023 presidential election policy document, “My Covenant With Nigerians,” he pledged to reform the foreign exchange market by eliminating multiple exchange rate windows, which only benefited opportunists, middlemen, and fraudsters.
VANGUARD
19th February, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Atiku Abubakar PDP President Bola Tinubu
