Presidency blasts Atiku: ‘You’re part of the rot Nigeria has become’

The Presidency, on Sunday, criticised ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, disclosing that he is part of the rot the country has become.

The Presidency was responding to remarks made by Atiku over massive instances of joblessness in Nigeria as well as stating that Nigeria is deteriorating quickly to a failed country.

As indicated by Atiku, “I have never felt so bad at being proven right, as I am by the report from Bloomberg Business on Saturday, March 27, 2021 that Nigeria is to emerge as the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, at just over 33%.

“We warned about this, but repeated warnings by myself and other patriots were scorned. And now this. We are at a precipice as a nation and the truth is that all stakeholders and elder statesmen have to speak up on time, while there is still a Nigeria to save.

“This government obviously lacks the capacity to address our current challenges, and we must help them, not because of the government, but because of our people.

“In a situation where we are simultaneously the world headquarters for extreme poverty, the world capital for out of school children, and the nation with the highest unemployment rate on Earth, there is a very real and present danger that we might slip into the failed states index – God forbid!”

Talking in an interview on Channels TV Sunday Politics monitored by Top Naija, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina declared that what Atiku said that almost 30 million Nigerians jobless was not a new thing.

Adesina declared that in the development of the 2015 elections, when the APC was contesting, the figure that was used by Buhari was that at least 30 million Nigerians were jobless, especially youths and that his régime planned to do something about it.

He said that was in 2014/2015, stating that Atiku should not make it seem like a genie that just emerged from the container, as the figures had continuously been there.

He further said that Atiku was in power for eight years, stating that now that he is in the opposition, one could not take whatsoever he declared as the right thing.

Adesina stated that the question is “when Abubakar was in government with President Olusegun Obasanjo, where did they take the country? Where did they leave the country?”

He disclosed that he had seen videos on social media where Atiku expressed a few things they vowed to do, especially on power; and that a few people collected some trillions and did not deliver.

He said, “Former Vice-President is part of the rot this country became. He cannot exculpate himself; he cannot sit in judgment over anybody. He played his part for eight years and they left the country where they left it.”