News

Tinubu’s speech failed to address hardship – Atiku

Published

3 months ago

August 4, 2024

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s speech to the #EndBadGovernance protesters, calling it hollow and inadequate in addressing the suffering of Nigerians.

As economic hardships intensify, many Nigerians are finding it difficult to afford basic necessities.

In response to these conditions, youths initiated protests on Thursday, which have continued into Saturday, in cities like Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, and other regions, demanding an end to hunger and poor governance.

In his response, President Tinubu, during a Sunday broadcast, urged the protesters to cease their demonstrations.

He explained that his decision to remove the fuel subsidy and unify the foreign exchange systems was necessary to eliminate the exploitation by smugglers and rent-seekers.

Tinubu added that this move also stopped the unjust subsidies benefiting neighbouring countries at the expense of Nigerians, which had severely weakened the nation’s economy.

He emphasized that the Nigerian economy had been stagnant for decades due to numerous misalignments that hindered its growth.

Tinubu said, “Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue using temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.

These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well.

“Yes, I agree, the buck stops with me. But I can assure you that I am fully focused on delivering governance to the people – good governance, for that matter.”

In a statement on Sunday, Atiku pointed out that President Tinubu’s broadcast overlooks the severe economic challenges that Nigerian families have faced since the start of his administration

He stated, “This address lacks credibility and fails to offer any immediate, tangible solutions to the Nigerian people. Given the extensive publicity surrounding the protests and the threats issued by government officials against demonstrators, one would have expected President Tinubu to present groundbreaking reforms, particularly those aimed at reducing the exorbitant costs of governance.

“But alas, no such announcements were made. The President ignored the protesters’ demands, such as suspending the purchase of aircraft for the President, downsizing his bloated cabinet, or even eliminating the costly and burdensome office of the First Lady, who has been indulging in extravagant trips at the nation’s expense.

“In his lacklustre recorded speech, President Tinubu offered a superficial account of his so-called reforms, revealing his own tenuous grasp of policy as he failed to convince his audience. While the President has spoken, it is unfortunate that his words lack substance and respect for the protesters’ sentiments, leaving Nigerians with little faith in his reform agenda – if one exists at all.

“We urge the President and his team to own up to their failures over the past 14 months and abandon the absurd theory that the protests are orchestrated by the opposition. This administration has failed on all fronts, even in the simple task of keeping a presidential speech confidential.

“Typically, presidential addresses are shared under embargo with media houses. However, the premature leak of this speech, allowing Nigerians to read along with the President in real-time, starkly illustrates the media, nay Nigerians dwindling confidence in this administration.”

News

Bury the thought, it’s not your destiny to be president – Wike’s Aide carpets Atiku

Published

38 minutes ago

November 15, 2024

Naijablitznews

Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, has told former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar to jettison his ambition to govern the country in 2027, saying the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party PDP presidential candidate was not destined to rule the country.

Olayinka in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said “The PDP presidential ticket will no longer be available to be wasted by serial betrayals of the party, who are obviously suffering the consequences of their past sins against the party and its members”.

Insisting that Atiku should perish the thought of contesting the 2027 presidential election as candidate of the PDP, Olayinka said “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and those egging him on for their benefits should let the PDP breathe.”

FCT Minister, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike had said during a live media parley in his office in Abuja on Wednesday that there would be no chance for Atiku, who was the 2023 Presidential candidate of the PDP to secure the party’s ticket in 2027.

Reacting through his Media Aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku had alluded to his defeat of Wike to pick the 2023 PDP presidential ticket as well as the former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, to emerge as the candidate in 2019.

However, in a statement yesterday, Olayinka, said Atiku’s “celebration of his narrow and fraudulent defeat of Wike in the 2022 PDP primary was funny and childish”, adding that “it is like Arsenal fans jumping to the rooftops to celebrate the club’s narrow defeat of Super Falcons.”

He said: “That Atiku is venerating himself for contesting PDP ticket with Wike and Tambuwal, people who were just a little above 25 as of 1993, when he contested the Social Democratic Party SDP presidential primary and came third, is the more reason he needs to go home and rest and stop acting like the proverbial cock that failed to realize that it is now elderly.”

Describing Atiku as someone not destined to be president of Nigeria, Olayinka said; “It is obvious that he (Atiku) is paying the price of betraying the PDP in 2003, 2007 and 2014. If not, the same presidency he has contested twice and lost, could have been his to just pick if he had avoided being inordinately ambitious while he was Vice President.”

“It was this desperation that made him to contest for president as candidate of Action Congress in 2007, while still serving as Vice President, elected under the platform of the PDP. A serving Vice President joining others to form another party and contesting as candidate of the new party against his own party.

That’s Alhaji Atiku Abubakar!

“Most importantly, Atiku’s conscience will continue to prick him on his roles in Lagos in 2023, and I am sure that even his apology to PDP members in 2018 can never remove from his body, that garment of betrayal.
“Therefore, it is again being sounded to his ears and those of the people lying to him that he is the only one who can win the presidency for the PDP that the ticket of the party will not be for someone like him, who will lose election and run to Dubai, only to come back two years to another election”, Olayinka added

CityNews

News

Confusion As ‘Baltasar Engonga’ was cornered and fl0gged by husbands of the women he sl3eps with

Published

45 minutes ago

November 15, 2024

Naijablitznews

A man dubbed Zimbabwe’s own “Baltasar” faced violent retribution from a group of enraged husbands after being accused of having affairs with their wives.

In a video shared by Crimewatch Zimbabwe on X (formerly Twitter), several men from the Mapostori sect were seen beating the man, holding him down while others struck him with what appeared to be rubber sticks.

The video, recorded by a witness and later posted on social media, shows the men interrogating him. At one point, one of the attackers questions, “How many women have you slept with, and why did you do it?” Reports indicate that the man allegedly engaged in these relationships after some women claimed their husbands were not satisfying them.

Social media reactions were swift, with users tagging the police to intervene and arrest the men involved in the assault. Many viewers expressed shock, noting a recent rise in arrests related to assaults on cheating partners and their spouses.