The presidency has rebuffed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claims that hunger and poverty are increasing in the country, claiming the economy has some indicators of recovery since President Bola Tinubu’s government.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said Atiku’s claims were vile and completely unmindful of the facts on the ground. He called Atiku’s previous references to revolutions in France and Russia “obviously misleading, inflammatory, and alarming.”
Onanuga cited a National Bureau of Statistics report indicating that inflation had fallen for five months in a row. He also mentioned that the trade surplus had improved, indicating that non-oil exports were equal to or slightly higher (48 to 52) than oil.
Furthermore, Onanuga stated that Nigeria’s foreign reserves had increased to nearly $42 billion (up from approximately $32 billion shortly after President Tinubu took office). He also revealed that the government had cleared over $7 billion in backlogs, including $800 million owed to foreign airlines.
The presidency also cited historical levels of revenue to government revenue, emphasizing that states were no longer paying salaries and pensions late, and that spending on capital and social projects continued.
Onanuga rhetorically asked if the problems today were the result of years of mismanagement by the PDP while Atiku was still Vice President, adding that the Nigerian economy needed recapitulation through well-thought-out structural adjustments in order to stabilize.
While Atiku warned that hunger-related problems could lead to protests, Onanuga urged Nigerians to be patient and resist what he called “alarmist narratives.” He claimed that people were already making economic progress and that the Tinubu administration’s reforms were producing results that would be visible in soon.
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