The Presidency has responded to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reform programme, describing it as “cheap talk” and a “flowery to-do list”.

In a statement on Sunday evening by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the administration dismissed Atiku’s ideas as lacking in details and already rejected by Nigerians in the 2023 polls.

The Presidency noted that Atiku’s vow to sell the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other assets to his friends was a major factor in his election loss.

Additionally, his supervision of a questionable privatisation programme as Vice President under President Olusegun Obasanjo raised concerns about his economic management.

Atiku had proposed an alternative economic agenda, emphasising gradual reforms.

However, the Presidency argued that his approach would not address the urgent economic challenges inherited by President Tinubu, including fuel subsidies and forex market arbitrage.

It noted that President Tinubu instead took decisive actions to address these issues, prioritising compassion and protection for the most vulnerable, highlighting the fact that the administration has implemented social safety nets and targeted support for those affected by recent economic transitions.

The Presidency concluded that Atiku’s criticism was an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians and that his untested agenda was no better alternative.

“We have just read a statement credited to former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in which he tried to discredit President Bola Tinubu’s economic reform programmes while pushing his untested agenda as a better alternative.

“First, Alhaji Atiku’s ideas, which lacked details, were rejected by Nigerians in the 2023 poll.

“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.

“As vice president, Atiku supervised a questionable privatisation programme. He and his boss demonstrated a lack of faith in our educational system, and both went to establish their universities while they allowed ours to flounder.

“Talk is cheap. It is easy to pontificate and deride a rival’s programmes even when there are irrefutable indices that the economic reforms yield positives despite the temporary difficulties.

“Despite the futile attempt to hoodwink Nigerians again in his statement, it is gratifying that the former Vice President could not repudiate the economic reforms pursued by the Tinubu administration because they are the right things to do.

“His advocacy for a gradualist approach only showed that he was not in tune with the enormity of problems inherited by President Tinubu.

“It is so easy to paint a flowery to-do list. It is expected of an election loser.

“President Tinubu met a country facing several grave challenges. Fuel subsidies were siphoning away enormous resources we could ill afford, and there was criminal arbitrage in the forex market.

“No leader worth his name will allow these two economic disorders to persist without moving to end them surgically.

“While advocating for gradual reforms may sound appealing, Tinubu took measures that should have been taken decades ago by Alhaji Abubakar and his boss when they had the opportunity.

“Alhaji Abubakar calls for empathy and a human face to reforms. We have no problem with this as it resonates well with our administration’s focus. President Tinubu has consistently emphasised the need for compassion and protection of the most vulnerable.

“The administration has prioritised social safety nets and targeted support for those affected by recent economic transitions.”