Midterm: Atiku, PDP shred Tinubu’s scorecard as Reps’ Speaker, Barau disagree

As President Bola Tinubu marks two years in office today, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party have scored his administration very low.

But the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajuddeen countered their assessment, saying in just two years in power, Tinubu had demonstrated good leadership and courage, even from May 29, 2023 when he was sworn in as Nigeria’s President.

But Atiku, who was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, disagreed, saying the Tinubu administration had failed in the last two years, particularly regarding its unprecedented record of wasteful spending of public resources.

Atiku, in a statement to mark two years of the present administration which he personally signed, accused the Tinubu government of deepening poverty across the country.

The former vice president’s statement read, “It has also set new records in wasteful public spending. At a time when millions of Nigerians are struggling to survive, government officials are living in excess and approving budgets that benefit the elite at the expense of the common man.

“It is sad that apart from being the poverty capital of the world, Nigeria has under this administration emerged as the unenviable position as the capital of malnourished children in Africa having beaten Sudan, a nation that is at war.”

Quoting the Global Hunger Index 2024, Atiku said Nigeria is one of the most affected by hunger and malnutrition, occupying the 18th position.

“Policy after policy under this administration has targeted the poor while providing relief and advantage to the rich. From healthcare to education to identity management and basic public services, Nigerians are now faced with class-based systems where the wealthy enjoy VIP treatment, and the rest are left behind,” he added.

But he assured that the coalition was committed to rescuing the country.

The PDP in its own assessment of the current administration’s two years in office, lamented that it’s “a massive disappointment and “nightmarish”, adding that Nigerians had “gone through hell”.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement, challenged President Tinubu to “urgently address the issue of insecurity, reverse all economically suffocating policies and check the wholesale corruption, greed, unbridled profligacy, reckless misdirection of resources, arrogance in failure and totalitarian tendencies in his administration.”

But the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajuddeen and his deputy, Benjamin Kalu commended President Tinubu for keeping Nigeria on track through positive policies and reforms in the last two years of his administration.

The Speaker, in a statement by his media aide, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, said President Tinubu had demonstrated good leadership and courage from the first day he assumed office when he “vowed to lift our economy by six per cent annually, rationalise the foreign exchange market, generate jobs, and confront insecurity.

“These commitments have formed the cornerstone of our policy thrust, yielding numerous bold interventions that have reshaped Nigeria’s fiscal foundations and positioned the country for sustainable progress.

“This administration harmonised exchange rates, aligning the Naira with market forces. This strategy, while triggering short-term inflationary pressures, has since drawn well over six billion US dollars in foreign inflows.”

Abbas further noted that Tinubu had injected fresh resolve into Nigeria’s defence architecture to address security challenges.

On his part, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, hailed President Bola Tinubu’s two years in office, urging Nigerians to continue to support his policies and programmes for a better Nigeria.

Senator Barau, in a statement to commemorate Tinubu’s second anniversary, signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, said the President had laid the foundation for the restoration of the country’s glorious days.

The statement read, “I join all Nigerians and admirers around the world in congratulating His Excellency, the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on the occasion of the second anniversary of this government.

“The country in the past 24 months under the able leadership of President Tinubu, the visionary leader of our time, has been repositioned. Of course, he inherited a lot of challenges. But he has come up with programs and policies to surmount these challenges.

“We have seen how he has genuinely dealt with our twin main challenges: security and economy. We know we are not where we want to be, but the journey has started. It’s a work in progress. Mr President is working hard, day in and day out, to surmount the insecurity challenge.

“Hundreds of terrorists have been neutralised, especially in the North West geopolitical zone. Most areas that have been tagged as no-go areas have been recovered. The instances of incessant kidnapping on the Abuja/Kaduna road have become history.

“In the Southeast, the activities of unknown gunmen terrorising the region have been on the downward slide. Boko Haram was almost completely eradicated until the recent attacks coming from the terrorist group in some parts of Borno State.”

Barau, who is also the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, expressed optimism that the establishment of development commissions in the North West, North Central, South East, South West, and South-South would accelerate wider development of the country.

“I, therefore, call on Nigerians of all persuasions to continue to pray for our leaders and the well-being of our country and to offer their full support to President Tinubu as he resets our dear nation for peace and socio-economic prosperity,” he said.

In a similar vein, the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Livinus Nwabughiogu, commended Tinubu for all his achievements, including the Presidential Loan and Grant Scheme with over 900,000 beneficiaries; Students Loan Scheme with over 300,000 beneficiaries and the clearing of over $10 billion FX debt.

Kalu said, “Others include over 440 ongoing road projects, including over 2,700km of superhighways; 3.84% GDP growth in 04 2024, highest in 3 years; N70,000 minimum wage payment; the decimation of insurgency affecting over 13,500 terrorists; over $50 billion in new FDI commitments Net Foreign Exchange achieved; the reserve of from $3.99 billion in 2023 to $23.11 billion in 2024; the unlocking of over $8 billion in new oil and gas investments; the passage of 4 new landmark tax bills and creation of regional development Commissions”.