The Presidency on Sunday said that former Vice President Abubakar Atiku’s idea of “consulting upon entering office” stemmed from his ignorance of the state of the economy when President Bola Tinubu came in.
“The economy was in dire need of urgent action; Tinubu had to quickly adopt a firm action,” Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, said in a statement in Abuja.
He said that the Tinubu administration came prepared with a firm action plan to address the shortcomings that had persisted over the years.
“We can only speculate what detrimental impact Atiku’s proposed lengthy town hall and Village Square meetings would have had on Nigeria’s economy if he had been elected president and taken such an approach.
“The country needed a proactive leader such as Tinubu, who immediately set to work to address economic challenges rather than one who would have squandered precious time on consultations and a questionable privatisation agenda,” he said.
According to him, Atiku’s critique of Tinubu’s presidency are mere “harebrained propositions devoid of realistic alternatives”.
“He must reckon with the decades of mismanaged economy inherited by the current administration, including exorbitant subsidy expenditures far exceeding government earnings from crude oil.
“As of mid-2023, the landing cost of fuel was between N500 and N600, while it was sold nationwide at an average of N200.
“The 2023 budget allocated N3.36 trillion for fuel subsidies until June 2023, against a projected N2.23 trillion in oil revenue for the year. The Nigerian state was on life support,” he said.
He said the estimated N5.4 trillion savings from subsidy removal in 2024 were being actively directed toward infrastructure development and social intervention programmes and initiatives that would benefit all tiers of government and enhance quality of life.
“We expect Atiku to commend what the Tinubu administration has done concerning revenue generation for the Federation.
“Without factoring in oil sales, revenue proceeds generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service almost doubled in the first half of 2024, compared with the level Tinubu met in 2023.
“The states and councils are more prosperous because of it as many states have increased the minimum wage for their workers to between N70,000 and N85,000,” said Onanuga.
He said Atiku’s proposal to privatise the four government-owned refineries, which collectively could only meet a fraction of the nation’s daily fuel consumption when activated, lacked originality.
“In 2007, investors were only willing to offer 160 million dollars for 51 per cent equity in the Port Harcourt Refinery, while the Kaduna Refinery had an offer of 102 million dollars.
“According to industry experts and the late President Umar Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s President at the time, who cancelled the sale of the refineries by the Obasanjo-Atiku government, the offered bids were considered scrap value,” he said.
He recalled that as vice president, Atiku oversaw the sale of the nation’s assets to private individuals and cronies at low prices.
He stated that most public enterprises Atiku sold had been stripped and had become dead assets.
He said the Tinubu government chose a more practical and value-laden model to sell completely rehabilitated refineries to private sector managers at an agreed rate, rather than selling them to private interests not technically capable of operating them.
“The Tinubu administration focuses on revitalising these refineries while supporting modular refineries and the Dangote Refinery, which has greater capacity.
“This approach will guarantee domestic production and stabilise retail prices by reducing foreign exchange challenges. It includes selling crude oil to the refineries in Naira, enabling potential cost reductions that could reflect in retail prices,” said Onanuga.
Regarding Atiku’s allegations of corruption within the NNPC, he said fuel subsidy had historically been the leading corruption enabler in the state-owned oil company.
He said that by removing fuel subsidy, Tinubu eliminated the most significant incentive for corruption within the NNPC.
“During his eight-year tenure as Vice President, Atiku and his boss had an opportunity to address this issue but failed to make any significant reforms in the oil sector.
“The suggestion of phased-out subsidy removal is an outdated approach that has historically led to fiscal challenges for countries like Indonesia, which Atiku references.
“Nigeria has gradually phased out subsidies since 1978, with numerous adjustments made. Fuel prices were adjusted 22 times between 1978 and 2020.
“Rather than pushing for unrealistic timelines, Atiku should recognise the necessity of President Tinubu’s bold reforms,” said the Presidential aide.
He further stated that Atiku had not denounced Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy because he knew that the reform was necessary and correct.
To alleviate the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the very poor and vulnerable, Onanuga said the Tinubu administration embarked on an active social intervention campaign involving cash transfers and the distribution of palliatives.
“So far, 20 million Nigerians are being targeted for direct cash transfers, an established social protection mechanism described as economically transformative by the World Bank and many development partners.
“The Tinubu administration has designed well-targeted social inclusion programmes, including student loans, consumer credits, and the Presidential CNG Initiative, all initiated within the first 12 months,” he said.
He flawed Atiku’s foreign exchange management proposal in which he declared that a fixed exchange rate system was out of the question.
“Yet his managed float proposal, another gradualist approach, is still the same as the old fixed exchange rate system, which stagnated the national economy by subsidising forex up to 1.5 billion dollars monthly to a privileged few.
“Atiku should remember that a managed float is also known as a dirty float because of its inherent flaws. The system combines elements of fixed and floating exchange rates.
“The CBN will still have to set the exchange rate and make it available to people and businesses. Access is not guaranteed to all, as it is now,” said Onanuga.
He was emphatic that Atiku’s economic proposals failed to present a viable alternative to Tinubu’s decisive reforms.
“We encourage him to reassess his approach and repair his reputation as a statesman. The rejection of his proposals in the 2023 election indicates that Nigerians will be reluctant to entertain his future political ambitions.
“President Tinubu remains focused on leading Nigeria toward a prosperous future and addressing our nation’s real challenges.
“Atiku Abubakar should abandon his politics of distraction and fantasies and focus on constructive discourse,” Onanuga said.