Atiku moans Tinubu giving jobs to critics to ruin their credibility
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bola Tinubu is giving government jobs to his critics in order to silence opposition to his hidden agenda of fostering autocracy through presidential powers, Atiku Abubakar has alleged.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is fighting in court to overturn Tinubu’s election, faulted the President’s recent appointment of a tax expert and vocal government critic, Taiwo Oyedele, as head of his tax reform committee.
Atiku described the appointment as part of a sinister plot by the Tinubu administration to seek legitimacy by silencing its most vocal critics.
Tinubu’s constant meetings with key opposition figures are “being done for the purpose of seeking legitimacy and surreptitiously silencing credible, critical voices,” Atiku warned in a statement he issued through his Media Aide Phrank Shaibu.
“The recent appointment of Taiwo Oyedele, a tax expert at PwC, was only a ploy to get him to stop speaking about the government’s failures as he had been doing almost on a daily basis on television, radio and social media.”
He noted that former President Muhammadu Buhari acted in a similar fashion when he was appointing his economic advisory team.
“It is common knowledge that Mr. Oyedele is the loudest voice as regards tax reforms. Last Saturday, he pointed out some of the wrong tax policies of the APC government.
“In a bid to silence him, he was appointed chairman of a tax reform committee on Friday but no other members were announced. Probably, they want him to work alone.
“With this new appointment, Oyedele will no longer be able to speak about the government’s failures.”
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Appointing advisers without taking their advice
“Oyedele would do well not to allow himself rubbished by Tinubu, a man whose only secret to economic boom is using firms linked to him to generate tax for a commission just as he did in Lagos,” Shaibu added, per Vanguard reporting.
“Mr. Oyedele must not allow himself to be deceived by this appointment.
“In 2019, President Buhari similarly appointed Doyin Salami, Chukwuma Soludo, and Bismark Rewane into his economic advisory team, but he never took their advice for one day.
“In the end, Nigeria was plunged into one of its worst economic crises ever with an unprecedented debt profile, multidimensional poverty, and never-before-seen unemployment figures.”
Shaibu said Tinubu is buying over opposition figures in order to give his government some form of legitimacy after a questionable electoral victory.
He argued the “so-called” government of national unity Tinubu is propagating is a ruse to decimate the opposition.
“These are the tactics of the late General Sani Abacha who gave appointments to several pro-June 12 voices all in a bid to silence them.
“In the end, many of such people who sold the mandate for a pot of porridge became traitors of the democratic struggle and never recovered politically.
“Those being courted by Tinubu must note that it is all a ploy to buy him legitimacy. They must be circumspect about working in his government as their credibility could be damaged beyond repair.”
