Presidency Tackles Atiku Over ‘Hunger’ Claim

The Presidency on Monday berated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his comments on the state of the nation, describing his claims of hunger and looming unrest as misleading and out of touch with reality.

Atiku had in a statement issued earlier, compared Nigeria’s current situation to the unrest that preceded the 1789 French Revolution and the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

Responding to the remarks, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, on his X handle, dismissed the comparison, insisting that recent data showed positive progress under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“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,” the Presidency said.

Citing the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Onanuga noted that headline inflation had declined for the fifth consecutive month in August, while over the weekend, the Bureau also reported a record trade surplus.

It added that the contribution of non-oil exports to the country’s trade balance was now nearly at par with crude oil at a ratio of 48:52 per cent.

The presidency further disclosed that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves had risen to nearly $42billion, up from $32bn when Tinubu assumed office.

According to the Presidency, arrears of over $7billion, including $800million owed to airlines, had also been cleared within the period.

It added that under the current administration, states were now able to pay salaries and gratuities promptly, while still having funds left for capital and social projects — an achievement it said had not been witnessed at such scale before.

“After just two years and five months in office, we are proud of the progress being made under President Tinubu’s leadership. Atiku and his allies may choose to ignore these gains, but Nigerians can see and feel the positive changes taking place across the nation,” Onanuga said.

The Presidency further accused the former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of being fixated on “doomsday scenarios and revolutionary rhetoric.”

It added that many challenges facing the country currently stemmed from what it described as “economic mismanagement during the PDP years, when Atiku was Vice President.”