State of the nation: What we would have done differently – Atiku

.Offers Tinubu solutions to Nigeria’s problems

.Atiku’s economic proposals would have worsened Nigeria’s situation, Presidency replies

By Tunde Opalana

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, said he would have been a better president to address the myriad of challenges besetting the country.

He also listed what he would have done differently as advice to the incumbent president, Bola Tinubu.

Atiku in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday gave sectoral analysis of what his government would be.

According to him, the statement became necessary to douse the pressure on him by Nigerians who are seeking his opinion on how to move the country out of the woods and save the citizenry from the excruciating pains arising from the trial-and-error economic policies of the Tinubu administration.

“I understand and appreciate the challenges faced by citizens in seeking alternatives to what is not working for them.

“I hope Tinubu and members of his administration are humble enough to borrow one or two things from our ideas in the interest of the Nigerian people. I would now go ahead and articulate some of our ideas that would have had the potential to transform our beloved country,” he said.

In general terms, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said: “We would have planned better and more robustly: My journey of reforms would have benefited from more adequate preparations; more sufficient diagnostic assessment of the country’s conditions; more consultations with key stakeholders; and better ideas for the final destination.

“We would have been guided by my robust reform agenda as encapsulated in ‘My Covenant With Nigerians’, my policy document that sought to, among others, protect our fragile economy against much deeper crisis by preventing business collapse; our document had spelt out policies that were consistent and coherent.

“We would have sequenced my reforms to achieve fiscal and monetary congruence. Unleashing reforms to determine an appropriate exchange rate, cost-reflective electricity tariff, and PMS price at one and the same time is certainly an overkill.

“Add CBN’s bullish money tightening spree. As importer of PMS and other petroleum products, removing subsidy on these products without a stable exchange rate would be counterproductive.

“We would have been more strategic in our response to reform fallout. We would not over-estimate the efficacy of the reform measures or underestimate the potential costs of reforms. I would recognise that reforms could sometimes fail.

“I would not underestimate the numerous delivery challenges, including the weaknesses of our institutions, and would work assiduously to correct the same. I would, as a responsible leader, pause, reflect, and where necessary, review implementation.

“I would have led by example. Any fiscal reform to improve liquidity and the management of our fiscal resources must first eliminate revenue leakages arising from governance, including the cost of running the government and the government procurement process. I (and members of my team) would not have lived in luxury while the citizens wallow in misery.

“We would have communicated more effectively with the people, with civility, tact, and diplomacy.

“Transparent communication with the public is essential to build public trust, which in turn is important to ensure that the public understands what the government is doing. We would have consulted more with all stakeholders to learn, negotiate, adapt, and modify, among other policy goals.

“We would have demonstrated more empathy. My Reforms would wear a human face.

“We would have been more strategic in the design and implementation of reform fallout mitigating measures. I would not run a ‘palliative economy’ yet, we would have a robust social protection programme that will offer genuine support to the poor and vulnerable and provide immediate comfort and security to enable them to navigate the stormy seas.”

In specific terms, Atiku singled out a few sectors of the socio-economic and political life of the nation he will transform.

He said: “We would have undertaken extensive reforms of the public sector institutions to maximize reform impact.

“On Nigeria’s perennial security challenges, Atiku said he would have “commenced on day one, the reform of security institutions with improved funding, and enhanced welfare.

“My Policy Document had spelt out a Special Presidential Welfare Initiative for security personnel that we would implement Adopted alternative approaches to conflict resolution such as diplomacy, intelligence, improved border control, deploying traditional institutions, and good neighbourliness.”

“We would have launched an Economic Stimulus Fund (ESF), with an initial investment capacity of approximately US$10 billion to support MSMEs across all economic sectors.

“Alongside the ESF, we would have launched a uniquely designed skills-to-job programme that targets all categories of youth, including graduates, early school leavers as well as the massive numbers of uneducated youth who are currently not in education, employment, or training.”

To underscore the commitment of his government to the development of infrastructure, he said an Infrastructure Development Unit (IDU) directly under the President’s watch would have come into operation.

“The IDU will have a coordinating function and a specific mandate of working with the MDAs to fast track the implementation of the infrastructure reform agenda within the framework provided herein. The IDU will hit the ground running in putting the building blocks for our private sector driven Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) of approximately US$25 billion.

“To engender fiscal efficiency and promote accountability and transparency in public financial management, we would have committed to a review of the current fiscal support to ailing State-Owned enterprises. We would’ve also begun a process review of government procurement processes to ensure value-for-money and eliminate all leakages.

“We would have initiated a review of the current utilization of all borrowed funds and ensured that they were deployed more judiciously.

On subsidy removal, he said he has always advocated for the removal of subsidy on PMS because its administration has been mildly put, “opaque with so much scope for arbitrariness and corruption. Mind boggling rent profit from oil subsidy accrued to the cabals in public institutions and the private sector.

“I would have prioritized the following:

First, tackling corruption. Fighting corruption should have commenced with the repositioning of the NNPCL, which is a huge beneficiary of the status quo. Its commitment to reform and capacity to implement and enforce reforms is suspect. The subsidy regime has provided an avenue for rent seeking, and the NNPCL and its guardians will be threatened by reforms.

“Second, paying particular attention to Nigeria’s poor refining infrastructure. We are by far the most inefficient OPEC member country in terms of both the percentage of installed refining capacity that works and the percentage of crude refined.

“We would’ve commenced the privatization of all state-owned refineries and ensured that Nigeria starts to refine at least 50% of its current crude oil output. Nigeria should aspire to export 50% of that capacity to ECOWAS member states.

“Third, adopt a gradualist approach in the implementation of the subsidy reforms. Subsidies would not have been removed suddenly and completely. It is instructive that when I was Vice President, we adopted a gradualist approach and had completed phases 1 and 2 of the reform before our tenure ended. The incoming administration in 2007 abandoned the reforms, unfortunately.

“The majority of the countries that review or rationalize subsidy payments adopt a gradualist approach by phasing price increases or shifting from universal to targeted approach (Malaysia, 2022 and Indonesia, 2022 -2023). In many EU economies, complete withdrawal often takes 5 years to effect. The gradualist approach allows for adjustments, adaptation and minimizes disruptions and vulnerability.

“Fourth, implement a robust social protection programme that will support the poor in navigating the cost-of-living challenges arising largely from reform implementation.

“We would’ve invested the savings from subsidy withdrawal to strengthen the productive base of the economy through infrastructure maintenance and development; to improve outcomes in education and healthcare delivery; to improve rural infrastructure and support livelihood expansion in agriculture; and develop the skills and entrepreneurial capacity of our youth in order to enhance their access to better economic opportunities.

Atiku said he will reform the operation of the foreign exchange market by eliminating the multiple exchange rate windows as he said the system only served to enrich opportunists, rent-seekers, middlemen, arbitrageurs, and fraudsters.

What he would have done? He said “a fixed exchange rate system was out of the question because it would not be in line with our philosophy of running an open, private sector friendly economy. On the other hand, given Nigeria’s underlying economic conditions, adopting a floating exchange rate system would be overkill.

“We would have encouraged our Central Bank to adopt a gradualist approach to FX management. A managed-floating system would have been a preferred option.”

Meanwhile, the Presidency on Sunday criticised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is advocating for gradual reforms rather than President Bola Tinubu’s direct approach.

It argued that Atiku’s economic proposals would have worsened the country’s situation.

“While advocating for gradual reforms may sound appealing, Tinubu took measures that should have been implemented decades ago by Alhaji Abubakar and his boss [Olusegun Obasanjo] when they had the opportunity,” the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, stated in a statement he issued on Sunday.

The statement, titled “Our Initial Response to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” was in response to a tweet by Atiku, who described Tinubu’s reforms as “trial-and-error economic policies,” blaming the President for the “excruciating pain” Nigerians are enduring.

Onanguga said “it is easy to pontificate and criticise a rival’s programmes even when there is clear evidence that the economic reforms are yielding positive results despite the temporary difficulties.”

Onanuga wrote: “Firstly, Alhaji Atiku’s ideas, which lacked detail, were rejected by Nigerians in the 2023 election. Had he won, we believe he would have plunged Nigeria into a worse situation or overseen a regime of cronyism.

“Abubakar lost the election partly because he vowed to sell the NNPC and other assets to his friends. Nigerians have not forgotten this, nor would they be comforted by Atiku’s track record when he managed the economy during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first term from 1999 to 2003.

“As Vice President, Atiku oversaw a questionable privatisation programme. He and his boss showed little faith in our educational system, establishing their universities while allowing others to decline.

“Despite his futile attempt to mislead Nigerians again in his statement, it is telling that the former Vice President could not dispute the economic reforms pursued by the Tinubu administration because they are the right course of action.”

The Presidency argued that Atiku’s call for a gradual approach only demonstrated his lack of awareness of the severe issues President Tinubu inherited.

“It is easy to present a flowery to-do list, as is expected from an election loser.

“President Tinubu encountered a country facing numerous serious challenges.

“Fuel subsidies were draining resources we could not afford, and there was rampant profiteering in the forex market,” the statement read.

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It added that no responsible leader would allow dysfunctional fuel subsidies and arbitrage to continue without addressing them decisively.

“Alhaji Abubakar calls for empathy and a human approach to reforms. We have no issue with this, as it aligns with our administration’s priorities.

“President Tinubu has consistently emphasised the importance of compassion and protecting the most vulnerable.

“The administration has prioritised social safety nets and targeted support for those affected by recent economic transitions,” the statement concluded.