The Presidency has dismissed comments by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar alleging that hunger is ravaging Nigeria and likening the situation to the unrest in France before the 1789 revolution.
In a statement issued last night by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency accused Atiku and his aides of being “out of touch with reality,” insisting that Nigeria is witnessing positive economic gains under President Bola Tinubu.
“Talk is cheap. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his handlers are clearly out of touch with the positive developments currently unfolding in our country,” the statement read.
Onanuga described Atiku’s comparison to pre-revolutionary France and the 1917 Russian Revolution as “grossly misleading,” citing recent figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). According to him, headline inflation has declined for five straight months, while a record trade surplus was reported over the weekend, with non-oil exports contributing nearly as much as crude oil in a 48:52 ratio.
He added that foreign reserves have risen to nearly $42 billion, up from $32 billion when Tinubu took office, with over $7 billion in arrears cleared, including $800 million owed to airlines.
“Under President Tinubu, Nigeria is recording unprecedented revenues. States are now able to pay salaries and gratuities promptly and still have surplus funds for capital and social projects—an achievement not previously witnessed at this scale,” the statement noted.
The Presidency further argued that many of Nigeria’s current economic woes were inherited from the era of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), when Atiku served as Vice President.
“Nigeria is moving in the right direction. Atiku and his party remain stuck in the past, fixated on doomsday scenarios. President Tinubu and his team are working relentlessly to correct the errors of the past through bold reforms,” it said.
The Presidency maintained that, after two years and five months in office, the Tinubu administration has recorded measurable progress, which “Nigerians can see and feel.”
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