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Tinubu’s “Prosperity” Exists Only in His Head – Atiku
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Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed bewilderment over President Bola Tinubu’s latest claim that “prosperity is on the horizon” and that “the quality of life is improving,” asking whether the President was referring to another country or the Nigeria that millions of citizens endure every day.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the President’s remarks reveal a troubling disconnect between those who govern and the people they were elected to serve.
“Mr. President says prosperity is on the horizon. Nigerians are asking: whose horizon? Certainly not that of the market woman whose capital has been wiped out by inflation. Not that of the civil servant whose salary now expires before the month begins. Not that of the manufacturer struggling under crushing energy costs. Not that of the unemployed graduate who sees no future. Certainly not that of farming communities forced off their ancestral lands by terrorists and bandits, families mourning loved ones slaughtered in senseless attacks, or countless Nigerians who now live in daily fear of kidnappers who have turned human lives into commodities. And certainly not that of millions of households that have quietly reduced the number of meals they eat each day simply to survive.”
Atiku said that while no serious person disputes that President Tinubu inherited challenges, no President is elected to inherit excuses.
“The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it. Every administration inherits problems. Great leaders are remembered for solving them, not for endlessly rehearsing them.”
The former Vice President noted that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration can no longer govern by blaming its predecessors.
“The Nigerian people are not interested in who created the problem. They want to know who will solve it. A government that still blames its predecessors after years in office is, by its own conduct, admitting that it has run out of ideas. President Tinubu may find comfort in blaming those before him, but history will remember his administration as the one under which Nigerians endured unprecedented hardship, institutionalised fiscal recklessness, and one of the greatest appropriation scandals in the annals of our nation. The suffering of Nigerians today is driven not by the past, but by an administration that has elevated opacity over transparency, rewarded a privileged circle of cronies, and condemned millions to deepening economic pain, insecurity, and despair.
“It is even more astonishing that a President who constantly invokes China now blames Nigeria’s population for the country’s difficulties. China did not become an economic superpower by complaining about the size of its population. It became prosperous because visionary leadership transformed that population into its greatest economic asset through sustained investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, education, technology, and export-led industrialisation. Great leaders convert challenges into opportunities. They do not convert opportunities into excuses.
“That is precisely what an Atiku Abubakar administration will do. We will invest aggressively in manufacturing, modern infrastructure, quality education, skills acquisition, agriculture, and export-driven industries to unlock the enormous productive capacity of our people. Nigeria’s youthful population is not a burden; it is our greatest strategic advantage. Our people are not the problem. President Tinubu’s failed leadership is.”
He said it was particularly insensitive for the President to suggest that because hunger existed before his birth, Nigerians should somehow accept the unprecedented hardship confronting them today.
“Nobody ‘elected’ Tinubu to eliminate the hunger of 1940. Nigerians ‘elected’ him to confront the hunger of today. The fact that previous generations endured hardship is not a licence to deepen the suffering of the present generation.”
Atiku stressed that hope is not manufactured through speeches but earned through purposeful leadership and policies that improve lives.
“Hope cannot be preached to a hungry stomach. It cannot be legislated into existence. It cannot substitute for affordable food, stable electricity, productive jobs, quality education, accessible healthcare, or security for families to sleep with both eyes closed. Government inspires hope through performance, not rhetoric.”
He urged President Tinubu to step outside the comfort of official briefings and carefully choreographed ceremonies and reconnect with the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“If the President truly believes that the quality of life is improving, then one must respectfully remind him that the Nigeria he is talking about exists only in his head. It is certainly not the Nigeria where families are choosing between food and medicine, where communities are fleeing armed violence, where kidnappers dictate the rhythm of daily life, and where hope is becoming more expensive than bread.”
Headlines
Wike Begins Money-for-Vote Campaign, Dangles N10m Bounty for Abuja Councillors to Reelect Tinubu
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has introduced what observers view as a novel dimension to Nigeria’s electoral process as he sensationally promised a N10 million cash reward to every councillor who “delivers” his ward for President Bola Tinubu and All Progressives Congress candidates at the 2027 general election.
Wike made the declaration at a Rainbow Coalition stakeholders’ meeting in Kwali Area Council, attended by traditional rulers, political stakeholders and residents.
The minister, according to Channels TV, urged councillors to mobilise residents and community groups to guarantee victory for the APC in their wards, attaching a price tag to electoral success.
“Any councillor that delivers his ward will get N10 million reward. Therefore, go and meet your leaders, go and meet your youth groups, go and consult with associations. Let’s deliver our ward to Mr President,” Wike reportedly announced.
The statement has triggered concerns over vote-buying, inducement of grassroots officials and the weaponisation of public office to compromise the 2027 polls.
Critics argue that dangling N10 million per ward to elected councillors blurs the line between legitimate mobilisation and financial inducement, reducing the election to a transactional contest where delivery is rewarded in cash.
With months to the general elections, the promise raises fresh questions about whether the will of voters will count, or whether wards will be delivered through coercion, compromise and cash.
Observers warn that when councillors – the closest elected officials to the people – are placed on a bounty, the stage is set for intimidation of opponents, manipulation of results and rigging at the polling unit level.
The development is being seen as part of a growing pattern of desperation within the political class to secure victory at all costs, even if it means monetising the electoral process and compromising its integrity before the first ballot is cast.
The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has declined to endorse Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for another term as head of the National Assembly ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Yilwadta said he has no preferred candidate for the position, insisting that the decision would rest entirely with senators elected into the next National Assembly.
He made the remarks on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
Asked whether the APC would return Akpabio as Senate President if he wins re-election, Yilwatda responded: “Let’s wait for the election first. I don’t have anybody in mind. The Senate will determine who they want to make the Senate President.”
His response comes despite growing support for Akpabio’s bid to retain the position beyond the current legislative term.
In October, senators publicly backed Akpabio’s return as President of the 11th Senate, with some lawmakers declaring that there would be no vacancy in the position.
Akpabio, who has led the Senate since June 2023, is seeking another term in the National Assembly.
However, Yilwatda’s remarks suggest that the APC leadership is not publicly committing itself to any candidate for the Senate presidency before the elections.
The Senate President is elected by members of the upper legislative chamber, meaning Akpabio would still need the support of his colleagues to retain the position even if he wins re-election.
During the same interview, Yilwatda also defended President Bola Tinubu’s physical fitness ahead of the 2027 presidential election and accused opposition parties of relying on blackmail during political campaigns.
The Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, has warned Governor Chukwuma Soludo not to commit treachery against the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the name of politics.
Umeh pointedly warned Soludo that his unwarranted attacks on Peter Obi would lead to a fight.
The lawmaker issued the warning while speaking at an unnamed gathering in the State, which was captured in a viral video.
Umeh unapologetically said any Igbo person who refuses to vote for Obi is an enemy of the race.
“People are saying that we have to support another person; if we do that, we are destroying ourselves. I’m an Igbo activist, and you can hear my voice in the Senate on all issues of national importance and particularly those that affect the Igbo.
“Peter is our conscience in this election. Any Igbo man who stands up to say we will not vote for Peter Obi is an enemy of the Igbo people, no matter who the person is.
“Nobody can try it here; I have been hearing a lot of things going on in this State. This government; I helped in installing it; nobody came here to be Governor of Anambra State since 2003 without my input. This one that his serving; I was a principal contributor to his ascending that office; he is holding that office in trust for all of us.
“Anything he does in that office, he must discharge it with honour and nobility, and it’s not by sabotaging our own brother.
“I’m saying it so that anybody who sees him can tell me that we don’t want to fight, but he should not commit what is called an abomination by wanting to destroy his brother in the name of politics.
“Nobody on the side is saying support Peter Obi. Everybody on the other side is saying support Tinubu. But we are saying let us stand for the truth. Peter Obi; this is the time, and if he makes it, the Igbo have made it.”
