Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of being insensitive to the hardship facing Nigerians, saying his comparison of fuel subsidy relief to asking Moses to return to Egypt showed a lack of understanding of the people’s suffering.
Mr Atiku, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, also criticised the president over insecurity, police welfare and the rising cost of living, insisting that Nigerians needed practical solutions rather than biblical analogies.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Atiku said Mr Tinubu appeared to celebrate the removal of fuel subsidy without acknowledging its impact on households and businesses.
“Bola, you are the Egypt Nigerians are desperate to escape,” he said.
“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.”
Mr Atiku accused the president of being disconnected from the struggles of ordinary Nigerians, citing rising food and transportation costs and the difficulties businesses face in meeting their energy needs.
He said, “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.”
The former vice-president said he would introduce targeted support for petroleum products refined locally and sold to Nigerians if elected president.
“My proposal is clear: give limited, budgeted support only to verified petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians. Imported fuel gets nothing,” he said.
He added that independent auditors would track the expenditure and ensure that the benefits were reflected in the prices paid by consumers.
Mr Atiku also faulted the Tinubu administration over insecurity, arguing that the president could not continue to blame the record of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, for persistent attacks, kidnappings and killings.
He said the ADC presidential campaign’s Director-General had questioned what Mr Tinubu could do about insecurity when even Mr Buhari, a retired army general, could not eliminate it.
Responding, Mr Atiku said former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had made progress in tackling insecurity despite not having a military background.
“Let me remind them that President Yar’Adua was not a sergeant, yet he stamped it out,” he said.
Mr Atiku said Nigerians expected the president to confront armed groups, rescue abducted citizens and restore confidence in road travel, farming and other economic activities.
“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,” he said.
“The lives lost under his watch are not an argument about his predecessor. They are an indictment of his own leadership.”
The ADC presidential candidate also raised concerns about the welfare of serving and retired police officers, alleging that some retirees received pensions as low as N29,000 monthly.
He further claimed that some serving officers were drawing on their pension savings to meet their families’ needs.
Mr Atiku urged the president to act on the proposed Police Exit Bill and review the salaries of serving police officers, similar to the adjustments made for members of the Armed Forces.
He said police personnel needed adequate pay, healthcare and retirement benefits to enable them to perform their duties without worrying about their families’ welfare.
“For millions of Nigerians, Egypt is the hunger, fear and indignity they are living through under you,” he said.
“They deserve affordable fuel, safe communities and police officers who can serve without sacrificing their families’ future. Tinubu made life expensive. I will make life affordable again.”