Presidency: Nigeria Economy Would Have Deteriorated Further Under Atiku

Presidency: Nigeria Economy Would Have Deteriorated Further Under Atiku

The Presidency has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic decisions, asserting that Nigeria’s economy would have been in a far worse state if former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had won the 2023 election. Dada Olusegun, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, suggested that the country would have faced the same economic crisis as Argentina, should Tinubu have heeded Atiku’s calls to emulate Argentina’s President, Javier Milei…READ MORE…

Olusegun pointed out that Argentina is currently struggling with an economic crisis and is awaiting a $20 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which would push its total debt to the IMF to $41 billion, making it the highest global debtor to the institution.

In a response to Atiku’s comments on February 25, 2024, where the former PDP presidential candidate praised Milei’s economic reforms for reducing Argentina’s inflation, Olusegun noted that Atiku’s suggestion for Nigeria to follow Milei’s example could have plunged Nigeria into a similar crisis. Olusegun emphasized that Argentina’s economy is currently in severe distress, with high public debts, collapsing education, manufacturing, and construction sectors, and rapid deindustrialization.

Olusegun wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on April 3, 2025, stating, “Atiku’s preferred model for Nigeria has led Argentina into turmoil, with mounting debt and economic collapse. President Milei’s approach is akin to throwing an already strained economy into a washing machine and hoping for a positive outcome. In contrast, President Tinubu’s reforms have already begun yielding positive results, including a stabilizing Naira, growing foreign exchange reserves, increased investor confidence, and a booming stock market.”

He concluded by asserting that had Atiku been in power, Nigeria would have found itself in a similar state to Venezuela, warning that the country might have been led down a dangerous economic path had Atiku’s policies been adopted.