Nigerians have the right to hold government accountable — Atiku

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, has been very vocal since the conclusion of last year's (2019) election where he was defeated by Buhari both at the poll, Tribunal, and the Supreme Court.

Atiku has been critical of the Buhari administration, calling it out for its anti-people policies, economic mismanagement, and abuse of power.


In his recent criticism of the ruling government via an article published titled “How to Pull Nigeria From The Brink”, Atiku had lamented the failure of the Buhari administration to heed his advice on diversification of the economy instead of running an oil dependent economy.

Highlighting the current economic turmoil caused by the outbreak of covid-19, as oil prices plunge, Atiku said, he sees the current challenge as a blessing in disguise since government would be forced to do the needful.

But the ruling party expressed surprise that Atiku failed to acknowledge the efforts the administration has made in the last five years towards diversification of the economy.



Speaking in a statement from its National Publicity Secretary, Issa Onilu, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said the Buhari led administration has been working towards diversifying the economy since coming to power in 2015.

He said, "We believe that the former Vice President did not consider his position on this matter well enough as the facts leading to the closure of the border clearly justify the temporary closure. How does the former Vice President expect Nigeria to be a productive economy if we continue to allow neighbouring countries to jeopardise our efforts to grow our own economy?


“He stressed that in the areas of plugging revenue leakages, curbing waste, diversifying and growing the economy, budgeting, borrowings, ease of doing business, support of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), Buhari’s government is matching electoral promises with actions.

He added that on railway, “It is to this government’s credit that the Abuja to Kaduna Standard Gauge rail line was completed in 2017, while the Itakpe to Warri railway, which had been abandoned since 1987 by successive administration has been completed and is due for commissioning. Even more commendable is the near completion of the Lagos to Ibadan Standard Gauge rail, construction of which started about three years ago.”



Meanwhile, the former vice president in a facebook post commemorating Press Freedom Day, called for press freedom saying the "right to hold government and its institutions accountable must never be compromised or impeded."


The post reads, "Whatever happens, we must never lose track that citizens have a right to know and that the press has been constitutionally empowered to be the watchdog. That right to hold government and its institutions accountable must never be compromised or impeded."