By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s handling of proceeds from the removal of fuel subsidy, accusing the administration of failing to account for the funds even as the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU threatens a fresh nationwide strike over unpaid entitlements and unresolved agreements.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday, Atiku said Nigerians have paid the price of subsidy removal through higher fuel costs, transport fares, food prices, energy bills and school fees, yet public universities remain underfunded and lecturers are yet to receive what is owed them.
“If the subsidy is gone and Nigerians have paid for that decision through unprecedented hardship, then President Tinubu owes the country a simple answer: where is the money?
“The house of cards of falsehoods erected by the Tinubu administration to justify the suffering of Nigerians is collapsing before our eyes. A government that strips citizens of relief, denies them meaningful social protection and fails to deliver the basic improvements it promised has forfeited the moral credibility to continue preaching sacrifice”, he said.
According to him, the government had failed to cushion the effects of its own economic decisions, but has instead imposed an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis on Nigerians.
Atiku argued that the university crisis was particularly indefensible given the sacrifices already extracted from citizens. “Government removed the cushion, collected the supposed savings and imposed the hardship, but Nigerians cannot see the corresponding improvement in their schools, hospitals or everyday lives. More than three years later, lecturers are still raising concerns about unpaid salaries and unresolved agreements. ASUU is again warning of industrial action. University infrastructure remains inadequate, while millions of young Nigerians compete every year for limited admission spaces. So where is the money?”, he asked.
The former Vice President also questioned the administration’s claims that subsidy savings had translated into larger allocations to state governments, asking why public education had not improved as a result. “Across the federation, public education remains under severe pressure. Several state-owned universities have experienced industrial disputes and disruptions under this administration, even while the Federal Government continues to advertise an era of stability in the tertiary education calendar.
“The crisis is therefore not merely a federal university problem. It exposes a wider contradiction between the enormous revenues government celebrates and the deteriorating public services Nigerians actually experience. You cannot boast about record allocations while students sit at home because lecturers are on strike. You cannot celebrate higher revenues when classrooms, laboratories, hostels and teaching facilities remain inadequate.”
Atiku further faulted the administration’s student loan policy, describing it as a contradiction born of government-created hardship. “This government removed subsidy, increased the cost of transportation, food and virtually every other necessity, and watched the cost of university education rise beyond the reach of many families. After helping to make education more expensive, the same government created NELFUND and now celebrates giving young Nigerians loans to pay fees that many of their parents can no longer comfortably afford. What kind of reform first empties a family’s pocket and then offers the child a loan to survive the hardship government helped create? That is not progress. It is a vicious circle of government-manufactured poverty.”
He raised concerns over the country’s expanding youth population and the failure to grow university capacity accordingly.
“The promise was straightforward: remove subsidy, free enormous resources and invest them in education, healthcare, infrastructure and social welfare. But today, ASUU is again raising the prospect of a nationwide strike over unpaid entitlements and outstanding agreements. State universities have also experienced industrial disruptions. Students are borrowing to fund increasingly expensive education, while university infrastructure remains grossly inadequate. The sacrifice has been collected from Nigerians in full. The promised benefits have not been delivered in full.
“Tinubu removed subsidy from the people, but he has not removed the threat of ASUU strikes. He has not resolved the crisis of unpaid obligations. He has not sufficiently expanded our universities. He has not made education more affordable. And he certainly has not removed the hardship confronting Nigerian families. That is the tragedy and the fraud of the Tinubu economy”, he declared.
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