Fmr Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Yahaya Ndu Blasts Tinubu’s Economic Policies as "Thoughtless" and "Detrimental"
In a scathing critique, former African Renaissance Party presidential candidate, Alhaji Yahaya Ndu, has denounced President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies, describing them as thoughtless and detrimental to Nigeria’s economy. Speaking in an exclusive interview with South-East PUNCH, Ndu expressed concerns that these policies have pushed many Nigerians into extreme poverty.
Ndu also criticized Tinubu’s leadership style, labelling it a "civilian dictatorship" and emphasizing the need for a mass participatory approach to address the country’s challenges. He stressed that democracy should be about active citizen engagement, not just electing leaders. The former presidential candidate pointed out that the combined votes of Tinubu and his main opponents, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Rabi’u Kwankwaso, did not even reach 20% of Nigeria’s population.
According to Ndu, party democracy means that one is collectively responsible for the actions of their party. He insisted that Tinubu’s henchmen should stop pulling the wool over the eyes of Nigerians by saying he just came on board when, in reality, he has always been part of the team led by Buhari since 2015.
In his assessment, Ndu explained that if Tinubu had solutions to the country’s problems, he would have provided them to his party to implement before becoming President. Alternatively, if he didn’t have the solutions, that means he didn’t have them, and if he had them but refused to put them on board for his party to implement, that means he was not patriotic.
"Tinubu’s Handling of the Economy: A Reflection of His Leadership Style"
Ndu opined that he was not surprised that things are getting worse under Tinubu’s leadership, but instead of blaming the President as a person, he blamed all Nigerians for agreeing to be fooled by the whole polity. He reiterated that democracy is supposed to be about mass participation and that a mass participatory approach is the solution to the country’s problems.
On the removal of fuel subsidies, Ndu stated that it was the worst decision of the Tinubu administration. He argued that even if it was supposed to be the best decision, it was removed in the most wrong possible way, demonstrating a "civilian dictatorship" leadership style.
Ndu proposed an alternative approach to addressing the fuel subsidy issue. He suggested encouraging and regulating young boys and girls who operate "illegal refineries," helping them get crude oil at the cheapest possible price and suffocating the market with properly refined oil.
The former presidential candidate expressed his dismay at the fact that Libya, an African nation, is selling one liter of PMS at N52, while Nigeria sells it officially at over N1000. He concluded that something is fundamentally wrong with the country’s approach.
By Kenneth Okorie, Media Talk Africa
Nigeria Bureau
