Atiku: Tinubu Cannot Reject Cheaper Living, Then Rename It ‘Renewed Hope’

By Vincent Mgbeji

African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of rejecting his proposal to reduce the cost of living while pursuing similar measures under the name “Renewed Hope”.

Atiku said condemning his proposal to lower living costs, while promising interventions aimed at easing the same pressures, was not economically consistent.

His position was contained in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Tuesday.

The statement said Atiku was more concerned with engaging Nigerians struggling with the rising cost of daily life than responding to the President.

It cited the mother struggling to feed her children, the civil servant whose salary is consumed by transport costs, the farmer paying more to move produce to market and the student going into debt to remain in school.

Atiku also questioned the President’s opposition to his proposal to reduce energy costs while promising that his administration would, “in the next few weeks”, provide cheaper transportation, increase food production and introduce relief for vulnerable Nigerians.

The former vice president said Nigerians had endured more than three years of rising transport fares, food prices and energy costs, while wages continued to lose purchasing power.

He said the hardship had forced families to skip meals, delay medical treatment, withdraw children from school and abandon basic plans simply to survive.

According to Atiku, the government had repeatedly described the hardship as the unavoidable cost of economic reform, but was now presenting cheaper transport and other interventions as urgent measures.

He questioned why Nigerians had to wait more than three years before the government recognised the need for economic growth to reach “the dining table and the pocket”.

Atiku said the difference in how similar proposals were described showed what he called “political convenience”, arguing that cheaper living should not be condemned when proposed by him and presented as “Renewed Hope” when announced by the government.