By Olawale Lamina
The Tinubu Media Support Group, TMSG, has expressed a deep concern over what it described as the impulsive tendency of the former vice-president Atiku Abubakar in “rushing to the press to make grave accusations against President Bola Tinubu,” cautioning that the latter should always subject his thoughts to critical examination before opposing the President.
In a statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary of TMSG, Messers Emeka Nwankpa and Dapo Okubanjo, respectively, the duo reacted on the sidelines of Atiku’s claims that the Tinubu-led federal government is spending N5.4b on fuel subsidy this year.
The TMSG expressed dismay at the self-imposed opposition leadership it accused the former vice-president of leading and contended that it would not have bothered if the Peoples Democratic Party’s, (PDP) candidate in the February 25, 2023 presidential election had put forward a rational thinking in his claims, rather than venting his sentiments only on impulse. The group noted regrettably that, “These are unbecoming of someone who had occupied the exalted position of a vice president.”
Continuing on many claims attributed to the former VP against President Tinubu, the TMSG castigated Atiku and observed that, “The former vice president has a penchant for playing to the gallery, always jumping to conclusions on issues without the decency of determining the veracity of such claims.
“We are bored with the manner former Vice President Atiku Abubakar latched on to a media report of a N5.4tn expenditure on fuel subsidy for 2024 without considering the consequences of such weighty allegation.
“The perennial Presidential candidate must have seen the reports as yet another opportunity to demarket President Tinubu for denying him is life-long ambition but for us, it is yet another page from the Atiku playbook of political misadventure stretching back to when his former boss, former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared him unfit for public office.
“We would have expected someone who was Vice President for eight years to ponder on how the Tinubu administration could commit a figure that amounts to nearly 20% of the N28.7trn 2024 budget to subsidizing fuel without a provision for it in the same budget.
“We wonder what manner of statesman would regularly rush to the public with what he thinks is a silver bullet against a sitting president who has no time for distractions as he continues his nation-building efforts.
“And after his N5.4tn subsidy expenditure claim was shut down by Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, we were not surprised that he doubled down to accusing President Tinubu of diverting public funds without proof.
“This to us is a classic example of the idiom ‘misery loves company’. A man who has had several allegations of financial malfeasance trailing his time in government would always think that everyone is like him.
And, going down the memory lane, the TMSG reminded Nigerians about how Atiku’s former Principal, Olusegun Obasanjo in his book titled, ‘My Watch’ had detailed some ‘corrupt involvement’ of the former vice president with a certain Mr. William Jefferson, a former US lawmaker, who later served 13 years imprisonment over the matter.
The group asked rhetorically that, “Is it not a statement of fact that former President Obasanjo, in chapter 36 of the book, linked Atiku Abubakar to the embezzlement of $20m which his administration was supposed to deploy for Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), and another $125 million to fund PTDF during 2003 fiscal year?
The TMSG challenged Mr. Abubarkar to contest the claims of alleged financial impropriety, which according to it, he (Atiku) is yet to contest, rather than making spurious claims against the person you of President Tinubu.
While drawing the attention of the general public to the former VP’s criticisms against the administration of President Tinubu, especially on economic policies, the Tinubu Media Support Group equated Atiku’s stance as an illustration of what it described as politics with bitterness.
The group concluded by saying that, “On the economy, Alhaji Atiku claimed that President Tinubu is running it by trial and error and we recollect how he recommended the Argentina model as a better option that will bail out Nigeria economy, but the fact, today, is that Nigeria is in a better placed situation than Argentina which has an inflation rate of 287%.”
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