Eze told the presidency that deriding Atiku Abubakar and
subjecting him to contemptuous media ridicule would not serve as enough damage
control for the presidency to cover up the mess the alleged clueless
administration of Bola Tinubu has made of the Nigerian state.
Eze was reacting to a piece in circulation titled “Atiku
Would’ve Plunged Nigeria Into Worse Economic Situation,” credited to Special
Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Eze said, “It is, at least, fair, that the official
spokesman of the president has admittedly confided in Nigerians that the
country is not better but in shambles under the current regime.”
Onanuga’s statement came as a result of the former vice
president’s statement on what he would have done differently to tackle
Nigeria’s economic problems if he were the country’s president.
Onanuga said the former VP is pushing his untested agenda as
a better alternative to Tinubu’s economic reforms, adding that if Atiku had won
the election, he would have plunged Nigeria into a worse situation or run a
regime of cronyism.
But in a statement made available to the media, Eze said it
is totally debasing and an affront for Onanuga to aim at comparing the
administration of Obasanjo/Atiku “to the current confused, aimless, and
visionless government, which has continued to unleash hardship on Nigerians.”
He added, “Honestly, Onanuga goofed in his futile attempt to
justify the shenanigans currently going on in Nigeria, occasioned by Tinubu’s
anti-people policies, which have plunged Nigeria into the poverty capital of
the world. There’s no basis for Onanuga’s rant, except for the fact that he
wrote to justify his pay as a media hireling.
“It beats one’s imagination that Onanuga decided to pour
invectives on Atiku because of a president that has made every Nigerian, both
rich and poor, unable to have one good square meal a day.
“Today, Nigerians are dying in droves, and those who survive
are committing suicide because of the managerial ineptitude of one man.
“Let the truth be told, no other Nigerian, including Atiku,
would have plunged this nation into the mess that Tinubu has driven this nation
to. Tinubu is clueless. He had no plans, so the failures of his administration
are not matters of surprise to the populace.
“Today, this administration runs on borrowed money, while
the administration of Obasanjo/Atiku was paying off our debts to international
financial institutions and offering grants to some African states.
“Atiku would not have subscribed to the nepotistic
tendencies that have become the driving force of the current regime. A
government that runs on the idea of one region manning all sensitive security
and economic positions.
“The entire northern region has been thrown into darkness as
the national grid embarks on a collapse spree, falling multiple times in a
week. The south and other parts of the country have not seen electricity for
weeks.
“Over 30 minors arrested during the #EndBadGovernance
protests were made to face treason charges for exercising their rights as
provided under the constitution and other international instruments.
“Only a failed leader like Tinubu would come up with these
frivolous reactions to people’s expression of their rights.”