Atiku had while lamenting the untold hardship bedeviling Nigerians, said he would have done a better job
By Kehinde Okeowo
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has fired back at the presidency after it claimed Nigerians rejected him, saying the outcome of the 2023 presidential election was manipulated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former Vice President’s statement followed an attack on him by President Bola Tinubu’s media aide, Bayo Onanuga after his criticism of the current administration.
Atiku had while lamenting the untold hardship bedeviling Nigerians, said he would have done better if he emerged as President in the 2023 general elections.
In a swift response, Onanuga, said Nigeria would have been worse off if Atiku had won.
He also mocked him, saying Nigerians rejected him by voting for Tinubu.
“If he had won the election, we believe he would have plunged Nigeria into a worse situation or run a regime of cronyism.
“Abubakar lost the election partly because he vowed to sell the NNPC and other assets to his friends. Nigerians have not forgotten this, nor would they be comforted by Atiku’s antecedents when he ran the economy in the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government between 1999 and 2003,” he stated.
Reacting to Onanuga’s outburst, Atiku in a statement on Monday said he did not lose the election.
“Let me emphasize that the citizens who cast their votes in the 2023 presidential election are well aware that I did not lose; rather, we find ourselves in this predicament because the election was criminally stolen from the Nigerian people”, he said.
On the controversial tax reform bills proposed by the President, Atiku said, “We cannot hope to tax our way out of the economic quagmire wrought by these misguided experimental policies of a novice administration.
“Numerous nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Monaco (an EU territory with a zero-income tax policy), among many others, have emerged as economic powerhouses by fostering growth through lower taxation.
“Why then are we fixated on inflicting further hardship upon an already struggling populace?
“One can only speculate that Tinubu’s government is anchored to a mere Tea-plan, which can only lead to a T-pain.”