The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recommendation of measures introduced by Argentina’s President Javier Milei for Nigeria as a reflection of a confused mindset.
Atiku, in a statement at the weekend, disclosed that the Argentine President, who met his nation in a similar economic predicament as Nigeria, “started off cutting government expenditure by cutting the size of government and wastages; blocked stealing of government funds; and attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) through concessions, tax holidays, and improved ease of doing business.
“President Milei flies regular business class for all his travels and does not offer the presidential fleet of Argentina for his son’s birthday.
“Likewise, there is no settlement for his hangers-on and political allies through unwieldy and burdensome appointments to public offices.
But the Chairman of the Forum, Jesutega Onokpasa, declared in a statement that the remarks attributed to the former PDP presidential candidate and his handlers were worrisome as they showed that they lacked a proper understanding of the Argentina situation before and after Milei assumed office in December 2023.
“We know that the Argentina President inherited an economy in a worse situation than what President Bola Tinubu met on the ground, but we wondered what former Vice President Atiku Abubakar found so exciting about Milei’s reforms that he considered worth emulating.
“We, however, noticed that the former Vice President alluded to a report by Reuters to back his conviction, so we consider it necessary to remind him that he has never deemed it necessary to praise President Tinubu on the basis of the constant positive assessment of the Tinubu administration’s policies by the same international media outfit.
“The perennial presidential candidate wants President Tinubu to toe Javier Milei’s path, but he pretends not to notice that since he assumed office in December, poverty in Argentina has risen to 60%—the highest in 20 years—leading to increasing daily protests on the streets after a series of reforms, including a 50% devaluation of the peso.
“Is he also aware that President Milei had, on assuming office, said he would introduce what he described as shock therapy that would induce short-term pain but long-term gains?
“We are surprised that the President of Nigeria, who is recording more favourable numbers than Argentina, is not getting the benefit of the doubt, even as he also promised long-term benefits after announcing an end to fuel subsidies the day he was sworn into office.
“Atiku, as usual, was wrong when he wrote on his X platform that Nigeria and Argentina ‘had closed the last quarter of the year 2023 on a similar path of economic downturn’.
“This is an outright falsehood because while Nigeria’s Q4 GDP figures showed 3.46% growth, higher than the 2.54% of the third quarter of 2023, Argentina contracted by 19.4%.
“Besides, inflation in Nigeria stood at 29.90% in January, but that of Argentina is 254%, higher than that of Venezuela.
“And while we are not outright dismissive of Millei’s ‘shock therapy’ in the context of the situation in that country, we know that Argentines are still waiting to see how it will work, but to our shock, we have a former Vice President who prides himself on being an economic expert, saying it is the best for Nigeria.
“Atiku praised Milei for reducing the number of ministries in Argentina, and we also expect him to hail President Tinubu for his show of political will to implement the Oronsaye report, 12 years after it was submitted for implementation.
“Let’s not forget that the Argentina President introduced privatisation measures, expanded presidential powers, and enforced cuts in public spending, but he has also scaled down worker rights and the right to protest, as well as removed subsidies on energy and transportation.
“We, however, need to place it on record that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is known to recommend austerity measures, weighed in to urge the Argentina authorities to shield the masses from the harsh measures.
“We wonder if these are the same things Atiku said he was attracted to when he said Milei’s plan is similar to his ‘Recover Nigeria Plan’ but we make bold to say that it is a poison chalice which Nigerians saw through and consequently rejected because of his antecedents in office,” it added.
TMSG urged Nigerians to ignore Atiku and continue to trust in President Tinubu’s ability to turn things around in the long run.
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