A support group of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Nigerian Youths For Atiku (NYFA), has advised President Bola Tinubu to direct total attention on economy in 2025.
The group’s Director of Communications (Nigeria and Diaspora), Dare Dada, made the call in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, after the NYFA’s first strategic meeting for 2025 in Lagos.
Dada said the group’s leadership calls on the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to focus more on policies that could change and restore hope in the nation’s economy.
“After critical review of recent political activities, it has become imperative to emphasise the need for the President and his handlers to deal with the real issues bedeviling the economy,” he said.
Dada said the President must also focus on deepening Nigeria’s democracy by giving opposition parties’ room, and creating healthy competitions.
According to him, democracy thrives when people are allowed to, without fear, voice out their opinions on matters that are important to their collective destiny.
He said the role of opposition parties and activism remained critical in any democracy, putting the government in power on its toes for the common good.
“No administration is immune to criticisms. In fact, criticisms engender good governance in any democracy,” the director of communications said.
Dada said the President also needed to confront headlong the problem of corruption in all sectors including contract bidding and awards, for Nigerians to breathe well.
Emphasising the need for the rule of law, Dada said law enforcement agencies must live up to expectations and avoid corrupt practices.
“These are very weighty allegations that should compel the President to order a full scale investigation.
“We must not treat some of these things as business as usual,” the NYFA’s spokesman said.
He said all policies of the government, which Nigerians were dissatisfied with, must be looked into and re-evaluated to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians, including those in remote villages.
Dada, in particular, said that the government should look into the post-implementation impact of subsidy removal and other policies.
Meanwhile, Dada recalled that the group’s principal, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, had consistently told Nigerians how he would have handled some of the economic issues differently.
He urged Nigerians to give Abubakar, the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a chance in the 2027 General Elections.
