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Reserve your ‘roadside economic ideas’ for 2023, pro-Buhari group tells Atiku

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Atiku-Abubakar

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has attacked former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for advising the Nigerian Government against obtaining more foreign loans and how to revamp the country’s economy.

Ripples Nigeria reported on Monday, where Atiku said that Nigeria was now at its lowest point and would sink with additional foreign loan, especially as the nation’s debt profile had quadrupled in the past four years.

Atiku, noting that Nigeria must cut its coat, not according to its size, but according to its cloth, advised President Muhammadu Buhari to do away with the Presidential Air Fleet of almost 10 planes.

“Our jumbo budgets for our legislature must go. The planned $100m renovation of our parliament must be cancelled. We cannot be funding non-necessities with debt and not expect our economy to collapse,” he added.

But responding in a statement by Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, its chairman and secretary respectively, the BMO asked Atiku to reserve his ‘roadside’ ideas of revamping the country’s economy till 2023, when and if he secures the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) presidential ticket to vie for the office of president of Nigeria.

BMO wondered why Atiku as Nigeria’s Vice President and Head of National Economic Council between 1999 to 2007 did not initiate or execute a single programme geared towards diversifying the economy.

“Atiku’s comments on reforms show clearly that he is coming late with his uninformed and confused ideas on diversification,” the Buhari media group said.

While questioning the moral standing of Atiku in making such calls for reforms now, BMO described him as “hypocritical, stale and lacking a full grasp of basic economic issues and sheer lack of understanding of the glaring differences between Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent brand of crude oil.”

The group said, “Atiku needs to be reminded that he is only playing up our debt issue as Nigeria’s debt profile had already been commended, despite the rotten fiscal regime bequeathed to the Buhari administration by his (Atiku’s) party, the PDP, after overseeing massive looting of the treasury for 26 years.

“To say the least, Atiku is not sincere in his belated calls for reforms. He just wants to be heard and acknowledged as a possible heir to the throne and one possessing miraculous answers to our economic and oil crisis challenges.

READ ALSO: Nigeria at its lowest point, will sink with more foreign loans, Atiku warns

“We advise Atiku to embark on a massive campaign of trust and confidence-building with his party members ahead of the party’s primary election for 2023, rather than dissipating his energy on wrong economic prescriptions.

“We are sure however that the PDP will not allow a repeat of vote buying by him as was the case at its presidential convention in Port Harcourt in 2018.”

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