Tinubu’s Policies Do Not Create Prosperity For Nigerians – Atiku

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has come out to criticize the All Progressives Congress-led government again.

He recently had his say via a press statement, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, Nigeria is not working for anyone at the moment, and Tinubu is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies.

He added that the president is still yet to lay down his plans for the remodelling of the economy, and his policies do not create prosperity.

His words, “Since then, Tinubu has also spoken about growing the economy at double-digit rates to US$1 trillion in six years, ending misery, and bringing immediate relief to Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis. On listening to this, Nigerians must have breathed a sigh of relief after their experience with ex-President Buhari’s eight years of economic misadventure.

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 tariffs, and a cybersecurity tax.

First, President Tinubu’s policies do not create prosperity. Instead, they pauperize 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.

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.

Third, President Tinubu’s foreign exchange policies have not had any positive impact on Nigeria’s foreign trade balance, contrary to policy expectations. In particular, the free-float and the resulting devaluation of the Naira have not resulted in an appreciable improvement in Nigeria’s trade balance. Devaluation has not enhanced the competitiveness of local producers and has had no positive impact on exports of goods, primary or manufactured.”