Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has fired back at President Bola Tinubu’s policies, insisting they are worsening the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

In a statement from his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, yesterday, the chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) argued that instead of targeting opposition figures, Tinubu should focus on governing effectively to ease the hardship millions face across the country.

Atiku’s comments were a direct response to a recent statement from the Presidency, which accused him of criticising Tinubu out of jealousy.

However, Atiku insisted his concerns were solely about the well-being of Nigerians, not personal rivalry.

Atiku cited Tinubu’s unfulfilled promise to temporarily remove import duties on essential goods from July 2024.

According to him, nearly 120 days have passed, yet the government has not implemented this relief measure.

This delay, he said, contributed to the record inflation, with food prices spiking over 40 per cent in recent months, marking one of the worst periods in Nigeria’s recent history.

He said, “On July 8, 2024, Tinubu announced that import duty on essential goods like food would be lifted for 150 days. But over 120 days later, the policy has yet to take off, while Nigerians continue to die daily due to the high cost of living, including food inflation, which now exceeds 40 per cent, the highest in decades.

“The brazen disobedience to a government policy by Tinubu’s appointees and the failure of the finance ministry to issue a gazette after over four months reflects the fatuousness, inanity and incompetence that characterises the Tinubu administration.”

Sadly, he added, rather than focus on governance, they are preoccupied with verbally assaulting Atiku and Peter Obi while using compromised courts to foster a crisis in the opposition.

The former Vice President also condemned the “inconsistency in Tinubu’s economic policies”.

Since taking office last year, Atiku argued, Tinubu has taken actions without carefully assessing the consequences, leading to confusion and hardship for citizens.

He noted the abrupt removal of the petrol subsidy, which led to a surge in transportation costs and inflation without adequate alternative solutions in place.

Tinubu’s CNG initiative to reduce fuel prices, he said, has barely taken off due to limited gas infrastructure across Nigeria.

“Even Tinubu and his ministers have not adopted CNG for their transport. This policy has done nothing to curb the rising cost of transportation,” Atiku said.

Pointing out Tinubu’s unrealistic projections for the naira’s value, he claimed that the administration misled the public about the country’s foreign reserves.

The Wazirin Adamawa challenged the government to release the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s 2023 financial statements for transparency.