Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has again gone for President Muhammadu Buhari’s jugular, accusing him of “grand cluelessness”.
Atiku challenged Buhari to respond to the United Nations’ report of July 10, 2019, that the number of poor Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty had risen from 86 to 96 million.
The statistics were revealed in the 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index released by the United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.
Although the report noted that the proportion of people who “are multi-dimensionally poor” had remained constant at just over 50% over the past decade up to 2017, Atiku insists that Buhari’s mismanagement of the economy was responsible for poverty in the country.
The 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party claimed that the reason the Buhari administration refused to respond to the statistics by the world organisation was because it “is factual.”
Atiku said this in a statement by his media adviser, Mr Paul Ibe, where he also accused the Buhari administration of trying to blackmail the judiciary on how it should run its affairs.
The former Vice President also said another plausible reason the Buhari administration had not responded to the UN report might be because “Atiku Abubakar has yet to make a remark on the report.”
Atiku said if his response would be all it always takes for Buhari to address the affliction his government has brought on Nigerians, he would always be ready to speak up for the citizens.
“On July 10, the United Nations reawakened Nigerians to the brutal reality of how poorly the Muhammadu Buhari administration has managed the nation’s economy with a damning verdict that 98 million Nigerians live in multi-dimensional poverty.
“Quite regrettably too, the administration has been groping in the dark since 2015, the reason majority of Nigerians decided not to reward their failures during the February 23 presidential poll consequently leading to the heist that characterised the conduct of that poll.
“The other plausible reason they didn’t deem it fit to respond to the report is because Atiku Abubakar has yet to make a remark on the report. If the only reason why the Buhari administration will react to the affliction it has brought on Nigerians is for Atiku to call the nation’s attention to how bad things have gone in the country under the slumber of General Buhari, Atiku will more than always be ready to stand and speak up for the millions of countrymen and women who have become victims of his (Buhari’s) misrule and grand cluelessness,” the statement said.
Atiku accused the Federal Government of living in denial and relying on propaganda, which he said was “the only machine the administration could operate without a glitch,” rather than addressing reports from reputable organisations on the welfare and well-being of troops at the frontline of the war against insurgency.
“We need to restate that Atiku Abubakar respects the practical purpose of the judiciary as an arm of government saddled with the responsibility of dispensing justice. Therefore, for the Buhari administration to call out the judiciary on how they might choose to do their job is not only an emotional blackmail to the bench, it is also very disrespectful to the integrity of the honourable justices of the court of law,” the statement added.
Atiku is currently challenging Buhari’s victory in the February 23, 2019 presidential election at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
His comments had amplified and forced the Presidency to react to a recent investigative report by the Wall Street Journal on the alleged secret burial of over 1,000 Nigerian soldiers said to have been killed at the battle front by Boko Haram insurgents.
Rather than respond directly to the WSJ report, the Presidency accused the former Vice President of trying to use the report to appeal to the emotions of Nigerians and the judiciary in order to get victory at the tribunal.
“The military has duly countered the story, educating the Wall Street Journal on the hollowness of its publication. But Alhaji Abubakar has quickly weighed in on the matter, as part of his gambit to whip up emotions, and perhaps get the judiciary to reflect the “pulse of the nation” in its judgment,” the Presidency had said.
