The Special Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu in a statement on Thursday declared President Bola Tinubu as an economic illiterate.
He made the submission while reacting to the planned fuel subsidy removal palliative by the Tinubu government describing it as just another avenue to steal public funds.
It would be recalled that President Tinubu got the National Assembly to approve an $800 million loan request.
The funds will be used to expand the national social safety net program and to lessen the harsh effects felt by the recent removal of the petrol subsidy, he explained.
According to Tinubu, the government plans to provide N8,000 monthly to 12 million households that are categorized as poor or low-income. This financial support is slated to continue for a period of six months.
However, Shaibu as part of his criticism of the development said the Tinubu government is incapable of any economic plan but only plans to tax Nigerians.
Atiku’s aide said Tinubu lacked a clear economic policy apart from taxing Nigerians, saying the President has just been exposed as an economic illiterate.
Shaibu said Tinubu didn’t develop Lagos State but only benefited from the tax paid by corporate organizations which had been in the state for ages due to its status as a former capital city.
He said, “Tinubu boasted that he would ‘develop Nigeria’s economy’ like that of Lagos but this was all a scam. Statistics show that over 70% of Lagos revenue comes from income tax paid by private companies which had been in Lagos for decades due to its status as Nigeria’s former capital.
“His only plan is to tax Nigerians to death as he did in Lagos and that is why the people of Lagos rejected him in the last election. Tinubu promised to turn Nigeria’s economy into a $1 trillion economy but it is all a scam and can never be achieved with his brand of “agberonomics”.
