The Presidency has told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to stop playing cheap politics with the security and economic challenges in the country.

The Bola Tinubu-led administration in a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on Tuesday, January 30, declared that Atiku has been making reckless statements on critical issues of late.

It said: “Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s statement accusing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of fiddling amidst some security and economic challenges is to say the least, reckless.

“Coming days after he made an equally reckless allegation against the President on the crude for loan deal for NNPC Limited, his latest statement fell short of what is expected from an elder statesman.”

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Atiku had challenged Tinubu to tackle insecurity across the nation.

He wrote: “If the shoes are too big for Emilokan, he should step aside. Nigeria does not need another Tourist-in-Chief.

“The country needs 24/7 leadership to confront the pervasive insecurity and collapsing economy.

“Tinubu is playing fiddle while Nigeria is drowning in the ocean of insecurity.

“To imagine that the Commander-in-Chief is on a so-called private visit while kidnappers kill a nursing mother and grandmother in Abuja for failing to pay N90m ransom and two monarchs in Ekiti, among other regular tragedies besetting Nigerians.”

But the presidential spokesman noted that that Tinubu has made efforts to secure the country.

“If Alhaji Atiku is really concerned about security issues and not playing cheap politics, he should have known that President Tinubu is on top of issues and working hard to restore peace to every part of our country.

“Our security agencies are working very hard to bring the security situation under control. President Tinubu is giving them all the necessary support they need to win the battle against criminal elements and secure every inch of our country,” Onanuga said.

Onanuga said that Atiku is yet to recover from his electoral defeat in the 2023 presidential election.

Atiku was the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election.

“We like to believe that Alhaji Atiku is still not nursing hangover of his electoral defeat and now latches on any issue to attack President Tinubu,” he said.

The Presidency declared that Tinubu is in firm grip of governance and his whereabouts is known to Nigerians.

Atiku to Tinubu: Explain NNPCL’s $3.3bn emergency loan deal

Onanuga also elaborated on some of the efforts the government is making to address some of the challenges.

According to him, “President Tinubu did not travel without informing Nigerians of his whereabouts. He announced a private visit to France and announced a return date.

“While in France, President Tinubu has been following developments at home and he is on top of the situation in the country. Today’s inauguration of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum wage bore his imprimatur.

“He is in constant touch with his officials and security chiefs and has directed them to stamp out every form of criminality in the country.

“He has particularly ordered them to apprehend those criminals responsible for the murder of two monarchs in Ekiti State and the kidnapping of some pupils in the state.

“We are already seeing results with the arrest of over 139 kidnappers around Abuja, Kaduna and Benue states in the last one week. The police Special Intervention Squad (SIS) and DSS have also rescued 154 abducted persons in the last few days.

“Just last week President Tinubu approved N50 billion as Special Fund to address some of the lingering security challenges in North-East where Alhaji Atiku hails from. To cope with the kidnapping challenges in the FCT, President Tinubu also approved funds for the acquisition of equipment to track criminals.”

Atiku had asked President Tinubu to account for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)’s $3.3 billion emergency crude repayment loan.

The former Vice President further described the loan as a “shady deal”, adding that a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Project Gazelle Funding Limited is driving the deal, and it was incorporated in the Bahamas.

Atiku stated: “The SPV is the borrower while the NNPC is the sponsor, with an agreement to pay with crude oil to the SPV in order to liquidate the loan at an interest rate that is a little over 12 per cent.

“What is even more confounding about this deal is why the Federal Government would register a company in the Bahamas, knowing full well the recent scandal of the Paradise Papers that involved that country.

“…It is inconceivable that the Federal Government will lead the country to take a loan of $3.3 billion with an interest rate that is not more than 12 per cent, but with estimated repayment amounting to $12 billion.

“That is a humongous differential of about $7 billion between what is in the details of the deal on paper and what indeed is the reality.”

The Star