- Atiku’s assertion followed a rebuttal by the Presidency to his criticism of the President Bola Tinubu’s policies.
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has asserted that the outcome of the 2023 presidential election did not reflect the will of the people.
Atiku said he did not lose the election but the poll was manipulated and criminally stolen by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Atiku’s assertion followed a rebuttal by the Presidency to his criticism of the President Bola Tinubu’s policies.
Recall that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had while bemoaning the excruciating hardship the citizens grappling with, said he would have done better if he had emerged as President in the 2023 general elections.
He reeled out the plans and policies he would have implemented that would save the country from the economic mess it is in right now, suggesting that the Tinubu government should make use of his policies.
In a swift response, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s media aide, said Nigeria would have been worse off if Atiku had won.
Onanuga taunted Atiku, saying Nigerians rejected him by voting for Tinubu.
Reacting to Onanuga’s outburst, Atiku who, in a statement on Monday, urged Tinubu to end his “shambolic ‘bolekaja’ economic policies” that are hurting Nigerians, stated that he did not lose the election.
“Let me emphasize that the citizens who cast their votes in the 2023 presidential election are well aware that I did not lose; rather, we find ourselves in this predicament because the election was criminally stolen from the Nigerian people”, he said.
On the controversial tax reform bills proposed by the President, Atiku said, “We cannot hope to tax our way out of the economic quagmire wrought by these misguided experimental policies of a novice administration.
“Numerous nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Monaco (an EU territory with a zero-income tax policy), among many others, have emerged as economic powerhouses by fostering growth through lower taxation.
“Why then are we fixated on inflicting further hardship upon an already struggling populace?
“One can only speculate that Tinubu’s government is anchored to a mere Tea-plan, which can only lead to a