The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, berated President Bola Tinubu’s administration for deceiving Nigerians with propaganda.
The former Vice President was reacting to a retraction by the presidency about Tinubu’s activities at the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) in the United States.
The president rang the closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York last Wednesday.
In a statement issued 24 hours later, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, said his principal was the first African leader to be accorded the honour of ringing the closing bell at the bourse regarded as the most active stock trading venue by volume in the US.
He, however, withdrew the statement the following day and said the presidency had discovered that Tinubu was not the first African leader to ring the NASDAQ bell.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, the PDP candidate warned Nigerians not to be deceived by the presidency’s apology on its claim about the Nasdaq event.
He bemoaned the fact that after just 117 days in office, the present government has been implicated in 10 embarrassing lies.
The declaration read: “It is ample proof that Tinubu’s administration would use propaganda as a state strategy since he has more media aides than economic and security experts.
“I would advise the Nigerian media to always fact-check every assertion made by this administration in order to preserve their credibility. Go outside to check if the sun is shining if the Tinubu government declares that it is morning.
“The following are the 10 lies of the Tinubu dictatorship that I have so far compiled:
“1. In his inaugural speech, Bola Tinubu made the false claim that the petrol subsidy had been eliminated. Given the current oil price of $94 a barrel and the naira’s exchange rate of N1,000 to $1, diesel is currently about N1,000 per litre while petrol is still about N620. The keen mind can easily see that petrol is currently being subsidised, a position which all oil marketers have espoused.
Nigerians shouldn’t fall for lies. The assertion by Tinubu that there is no subsidy is a devil’s advocate falsehood, and the fact that they are even withholding the data indicates a lack of transparency and the likelihood that more money is being taken.
“2. The second falsehood spread by these charlatans was that all Nigerians were now free to travel to Dubai because the United Arab Emirates had instantly abolished its prohibition on the country’s citizens obtaining visas. Many undiscerning Nigerians, whose only sin was to believe the false statements of an unreliable administration, enthusiastically cheered this deception. Later, UAE authorities told CNN that everything was a hoax. What a shame for the country!
“3. This dishonest government’s third falsehood is that Tinubu was the first president of an African country to ring the NASDAQ bell. Since then, it has been shown that Jakaya Kikwete, the president of Malawi, rang the bell on September 21, 2011.
The US Presidential Envoy and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, was cited in a statement made by Ajuri Ngelale on August 27, 2023, as saying, “President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It shows how highly he regards your leadership. Well, Tinubu has left the UNGA and this has shown to be yet another embarrassing untruth and never met President Biden.
“5. Tinubu’s assertion that “We have retooled the exchange rate to a reliable, dependable one figure floating of the naira” was a fifth falsehood uttered on the NASDAQ floor. You are allowed to bring in money and take money out. But this is yet another devilish deception. The I&E Window’s exchange rate is approximately N780 for every $1, but the parallel market’s rate is approximately N1,000 for every $1. Additionally, foreign airlines still have approximately $600 million in funds that are trapped in Nigeria. Thus, when Tinubu claimed, “You are free to take in your money and bring out your money,” he was lying.
“6. On August 14, 2023, the Nigerian government announced on its official Twitter account that terrorists gathered at Kurebe in Shiroro LGA in Niger State had been struck by a Nigerian Air Force strike. The terrorists, according to the administration, were defeated. Now, Premium Times has uncovered in its most recent investigation that this is all misinformation because the people who died were unarmed citizens. Is it not terrible how the Bola Tinubu administration’s lies have now spread to the military? The body of the fish cannot survive corruption once the head has gone bad.
“7. The Central Bank of Nigeria announced on September 6, 2023 that it will infuse $10 billion into the foreign exchange market within two weeks to reduce the FX backlog as part of Bola Tinubu’s marketing campaign. No money has been injected into the system for days after the deadline expired while the naira continues to plunge. There is no institution that Tinubu’s administration can save from destruction.
“8. Tinubu declared, “As your President, I shall serve with prejudice towards none,” in his inauguration speech. But it now appears that this was just another outright falsehood. The CBN, FIRS, customs, army, police, and immigration are just a few of the critical positions that have been given to members of the country by Tinubu’s government of the clannish, by the clannish, and for the clannish, while he serves as the petroleum and gas minister. Only five ministers were chosen from the southeast by Tinubu, who picked ten from the southwest. If this is not prejudice, what else is it?
“9. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited announced last month that they had secured a $3 billion Afrexim loan that would help stable the naira. We alerted people that everything was a hoax to fool Nigerians. We now have justification because Afrexim Bank has declined to comment on the naira’s current black market rate of $1/N1,000. Simply put, this was audio cash.
10. The Student Loan Act, which Tinubu signed on June 12, was maybe the biggest fraud and deception of his administration. The new law solely permits student loans for tuition. It doesn’t pay for any additional schooling costs. All federal government schools started raising tuition after the law was signed. However, Dele Alake, who at the time served as the Special Adviser on Media, stated in a statement that all public institutions continue to offer free tuition and that the only fees that have increased are those for housing, lab, libraries, and other expenses. Therefore, the Student Loan Act is useless and no funds will be given if tuition is free and the Student Loan Act only covers tuition fees. Essentially, Tinubu’s administration has prompted the government schools to increase fees while no loans will be given to the students. This is the height of deception and wickedness.”
