Atiku to Tinubu: Account for first term before seeking re-election

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should engage directly with Nigerians on his administration’s performance as he seeks a second term.

Reacting on Thursday through Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said President Tinubu should address Nigerians on the state of the economy and the impact of his policies over the last three and a half years.

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) said President Tinubu could not ask Nigerians for four more years while sending governors, ministers and defectors across the country to defend the hardship of the past three and a half years.

Atiku said: “Tinubu says he may miss campaign rallies because Nigeria needs his attention. Where was that urgency when Nigerians pleaded for relief?

He has had three and a half years to govern. In that time, families have been forced to cut meals, postpone medical care and watch their earnings lose value before they get home.”

“Now he wants another mandate. Before asking Nigerians for one, he must face them and account for the first term.

“Let him look a mother in the eye and explain what his government has done to make food affordable. Let him tell pensioners why they cannot afford their medicines. Let him explain to young Nigerians why years of study and hard work have still not brought them decent jobs.

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“Tinubu says American creditors cannot wait. Nigerians cannot wait either. They have bills to pay, children to feed and lives to rebuild. They deserve a President who treats their suffering with the same urgency he gives creditors and investors.”

“Instead, he is assembling a crowd of politicians to speak for him. He can fill every campaign stage in Nigeria. He cannot fill an empty pot with surrogates. He cannot send a politician into a market to persuade prices to fall.

“The people on his campaign council did not receive the mandate in 2023. Tinubu did. He made the promises. He took the decisions. He must face the questions.

“Nigerians will hear whatever his surrogates have to say. But when they vote, they will remember what they have lived through. No crowd of politicians can stand between Tinubu and his record.”