Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), explains why President Tinubu’s administration has not yielded good results. He says Tinubu unleashed reforms by implementing good plans.
He said this in an article made public on Tuesday. In his speech, he recalled that “On May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu raised the hopes of Nigerians with his pledge to ‘remodel our economy to bring about growth and development through job creation, food security and an end of extreme poverty.”
He also explained that Tinubu promised to grow the economy at a double-digit rate, which would help end Nigerians’ misery.
He continued that the president’s statement had given Nigerians hope and relief after they had experienced 8 years of hardship at the hands of ex-president Muhammad Buhari.
In his words, “Tinubu laid out no plans for the ‘remodelling’ of the economy but soon embarked on a cocktail of policies to achieve it.
“In May 2023, he eliminated PMS subsidies, and a month later, the CBN implemented a new foreign exchange policy that unified the multiple official FX windows into a single official market.
“More policies followed in rapid succession: the tightening of monetary policy to reduce Naira liquidity, a hike in monetary policy rates, the introduction of cost-reflective electricity tariff, and a cybersecurity tax.
“Predictably, 12 months on, Tinubu’s pledge of growing the economy and ending misery remains unfulfilled.
“His actions or inactions have significantly worsened Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability. Nigeria remains a struggling economy and is more fragile today than a year ago.
“Indeed, all the economic ills—joblessness, poverty, and misery—that defined the Buhari-led administration have only exacerbated.
“Africa’s leading economy has slipped to the 4th position, lagging behind Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa. Citizens’ hopes have been dashed (and not renewed, contrary to the propaganda of the administration) as Nigeria’s economic woes have multiplied.
“In my press statement on the state of our economy earlier this year, I expressed my concerns about the downside risks of unleashing reforms without sequencing;
“…without any ideas on how to implement them; and without any regard to their potential and real devastating consequences. Implementing policies without proper planning and a clear destination is nothing other than trial-and-error economics.
“My concerns have not diminished. I will focus on four areas to underscore the downside risks associated with Tinubu’s reform measures and their dire consequences for Nigeria’s medium to long-term growth and development.
“First, President Tinubu’s policies do not create prosperity. Instead, they pauperise the poor and bankrupt the rich.
“They spare no one. Nigerian citizens, the majority of whom are poor, are going through the worst cost-of-living crisis since the infamous structural adjustment programme of the 1980s.
“The annual inflation rate at 33.69% is the highest in nearly 3 decades. Food prices are unbearably higher than what ordinary citizens can afford, as food inflation soared to 40.53% in April, the highest in more than 15 years.”
He further said, “Nigerian citizens have to pay 114% more for a bag of rice, 107% more for a bag of flour, and 150% more in transport fares relative to May 2023. Today, in some locations, motorists are paying 305% more for a litre of fuel.
“Yet, on a minimum wage of the equivalent of US$23 per month, Nigerian workers are among the lowest wage earners in the world. Tinubu had the ‘courage’ to remove subsidy on PMS;
“…and impose additional taxes on his people, but lacks the compassion to raise the minimum wage or implement a social investment programme that would reduce the levels of vulnerability and deprivation of workers and their families.
“Second, President Tinubu’s policies create a hostile environment for businesses, big or small. The private sector is overwhelmed by Tinubu’s dismal policies and overburdened by his failure to address the policy fallouts.
“The manufacturing sector, which holds the key to higher incomes, jobs, and economic growth, has been bogged down by rising input prices, higher energy and borrowing costs, and exchange rate complexities.
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