Atiku Fires back at Tinubu: You’re the Egypt Nigerians are desperate to escape
By Mohammed Ismail
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu over his refusal to restore fuel subsidy, accusing the President of being insensitive to the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said Tinubu’s comparison of calls for subsidy restoration to asking Moses to return to Egypt demonstrated what he described as a lack of understanding of the suffering experienced by ordinary citizens.
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In a statement issued on his behalf by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku faulted the President for celebrating the removal of fuel subsidy while millions of Nigerians grapple with rising living costs.
“Bola, you are the Egypt Nigerians are desperate to escape. You celebrate the day you made fuel more expensive, then lecture families struggling to pay for food and transport about why they must never go back,” Atiku said.
His remarks followed Tinubu’s declaration at a political gathering in Abuja that he had no regrets over subsidy removal, insisting that Nigeria would never return to the policy.
The President had likened the country’s economic reforms to the biblical exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, arguing that reversing the policy would amount to returning to an unsustainable past.
But Atiku rejected the analogy, arguing that Nigerians needed practical solutions to their economic difficulties rather than religious metaphors.
He said the President’s policies had left families struggling to afford food, workers spending substantial portions of their salaries on transportation and businesses battling rising operating costs.
According to the former Vice-President, the pressing concern for Nigerians is how the government intends to make essential goods and services affordable.
“A mother trying to feed her children cannot pay for food with a metaphor. A worker cannot get to work on a story about the Red Sea. Nigerians are asking how you intend to make life affordable. Answer them,” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate said he would pursue a different approach to fuel affordability, proposing limited and budgeted support for verified petroleum products refined locally and sold to Nigerian consumers.
Under his proposal, imported fuel would not qualify for the support, while independent auditors would monitor the programme to ensure public funds were properly accounted for and the benefits reflected in pump prices.
He argued that any intervention that failed to reduce the price paid by consumers would defeat its purpose.
Atiku also extended his criticism to the Tinubu administration’s handling of insecurity, insisting that the President could not continue to attribute the country’s security challenges to the failures of previous governments.
He said Nigerians expected the President to protect communities, rescue abducted citizens and create conditions that would allow people to travel, farm and conduct their businesses without fear.
The former Vice-President also faulted an argument attributed to Tinubu’s campaign Director-General that even former President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired military general, had been unable to eliminate insecurity.
In response, Atiku cited the administration of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, arguing that leadership could make a difference in addressing security challenges.
He maintained that the loss of lives and continuing attacks under the current administration should be addressed as matters of present government responsibility rather than attributed solely to the record of its predecessors.
“If Tinubu cannot tell them how he will do that after more than three years in office, he has no business asking for four more years,” Atiku said.
The ADC candidate also criticised the welfare conditions of serving and retired police officers, questioning how the government could expect security personnel to protect citizens effectively without adequately addressing their financial security.
He cited the account of a retired Assistant Superintendent of Police who reportedly receives a monthly pension of N29,000, while alleging that some serving officers were drawing on their pension savings to meet family expenses.
Atiku urged Tinubu to address the concerns of retired officers, act on the proposed Police Exit Bill and review the salaries and welfare packages of serving personnel.
He argued that police officers deserved adequate remuneration, healthcare and retirement benefits commensurate with the risks associated with their duties.
The former Vice-President concluded by rejecting Tinubu’s use of the Egypt analogy, insisting that economic hardship, insecurity and declining living standards were the immediate concerns confronting millions of Nigerians.
“Stop pointing to Egypt as though it lies behind us. For millions of Nigerians, Egypt is the hunger, fear and indignity they are living through under you,” he said.
He added that Nigerians deserved affordable energy, safer communities and better welfare for security personnel.
