• My husband not responsible for hardship in Nigeria – Remi Tinubu
BY OUR REPORTER
Former Vice President and the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over the current hardship being experienced across the land as a result incessant fuel price hike, labelling him T-Pain.
The First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu, however, at a different setting and engagement, insisted that her husband cannot be held responsible for the hardship Nigerians are currently facing.
Atiku had in a terse post on his verified X account on Thursday slammed Tinubu for being unperturbed by the hardship his policies including the removal of petrol subsidy has inflicted upon Nigerians, describing his actions and policies and “haphazard and disingenuous”.
He wrote:
“The haphazard and disingenuous approach of the current administration to fuel subsidy management has been the reason we are in this current economic crisis in the country.
“As things stand, there will be no let up in the escalating inflation rate, which is drowning the material well-being of Nigerians. It is even more worrying that T-pain is undisturbed by the hardship in the country,” Atiku wrote.
But speaking at the Palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday, the First Lady said her husband should not be blamed for the current economic hardship in Nigeria. She insisted the Tinubu administration is still very young.
Senator Remi Tinubu was in Ife to inaugurate hostel and a 2.7-kilometer road donated to Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ University, (OAU), Ile Ife, by the Ooni of Ife and named after her.
She said, “We are just 18 months into our administration; we are not the cause of the current situation; we are trying to fix it and secure the future.
“We know that subsidy has been removed, but with God on our side, in the next two years, Nigeria will be greater than this. Those who attempted removing subsidy before could not see it through. But with your prayers in the next two years, we will build a nation for the future.”
The president’s wife added that her husband is not greedy, thanking God for making him emerge Nigeria’s number one citizen.
“We give glory to God for our status, myself and my husband, we are not greedy but we thank God for what God has done for us. It is not common for rich people to get to this seat but I am grateful to God, we cannot disappoint Nigeria and with the help of God, we are getting to the promised land in no distant time,” she said.
Nigerians have been groaning under severe economic hardship since the removal of fuel subsidy which pushed the pump price of petrol from N198 to N1,030 on Wednesday.
Tinubu announced an end to subsidy during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, saying the policy was standing in the way of Nigeria’s progress.
