Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s inclination to raise tariffs, arguing that it is disproportionate to what Nigerians are receiving. In a statement issued on May 1, Workers’ Day, Atiku, the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023, accused the President of subsidizing corruption and living in luxury while impoverishing the masses.

“As Nigerian workers join their global counterparts in celebrating International Workers’ Day, it is a sobering fact that the plight of the Nigerian worker remains grim,” Atiku stated. Despite repeated promises and eloquent rhetoric from the government, he lamented that the long-awaited possibility of a wage increase for Nigerian workers remains unrealized.

Atiku emphasized that under the current administration, each new day brings with it fresh hardships and severe living conditions. According to Atiku, “The continual increase in tariffs across various service offerings without addressing the corruption and inefficiencies in the system only serves to have long-suffering Nigerians subsidize the system’s corruption and inefficiencies.”

He noted that since the legendary days of Pa. Michael Imoudu and subsequent firebrands like Pascal Bafyau and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Nigerian workers have been at the forefront of the fight against oppression and bad governance. He emphasized that “no administration in Nigerian history has trampled on workers’ rights like this one.” Employees are constantly confronted with uncertainty due to the exorbitant costs of fundamental necessities. CONTINUE READING