What I would have done differently as President – Atiku

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has responded to inquiries from Nigerians about what he would have done differently as President of the country if he had won the 2023 presidential election.

Atiku came second in the 2023 presidential election he contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), losing to President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Peter Obi, who was Atiku’s presidential running mate in the 2019 election came third.

Since Tinubu came to power, the naira has been on a free fall and the economy has nosedived, creating more unemployment, galloping inflation and hardship, with fears of a likely civil unrest.

There were hunger protests in August this year, quelled with tear gas and gunshots fired at protesters by security operatives.

Many protesters were equally arrested including minors, currently standing trials for treason. They face life imprisonment if convicted.

They were brought to the court in the past week underfed, half clothed and hungry. They could not stand in court and collapsed with five of them rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

Atiku, who has launched incessant attacks on what he called the failure of Tinubu’s government, said on Sunday that his approach would have been different, producing positive results.

Atiku said, “I am not the President, Tinubu is. The focus should be on him and not on me or any other.

“I believe that such inquiries distract from the critical questions of what President Bola Tinubu needs to do to save Nigerians from the excruciating pains arising from his trial-and-error economic policies.”

He added, “We would have planned better and more robustly: My journey of reforms would have benefitted from more adequate preparations; more sufficient diagnostic assessment of the country’s conditions; more consultations with key stakeholders; and better ideas for the final destination.

“We would have been guided by my robust reform agenda as encapsulated in ‘My Covenant With Nigerians’, my policy document that sought to, among others, protect our fragile economy against much deeper crisis by preventing business collapse; our document had spelt out policies that were consistent and coherent.”

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He added that he would have sequenced his reforms to achieve fiscal and monetary congruence.

“Unleashing reforms to determine an appropriate exchange rate, cost-reflective electricity tariff, and PMS price at one and the same time is certainly an overkill.

“Add CBN’s bullish money tightening spree. As importers of PMS and other petroleum products, removing subsidy on these products without a stable exchange rate would be counterproductive,” he stated.

He also said, “We would have been more strategic in our response to reform fallout. We would not overestimate the efficacy of the reform measures or underestimate the potential costs of reforms.

“I would recognise that reforms could sometimes fail. I would not underestimate the numerous delivery challenges, including the weaknesses of our institutions, and would work assiduously to correct the same.

“I would, as a responsible leader, pause, reflect, and where necessary, review implementation.”

The former Vice President said, “I would have led by example. Any fiscal reform to improve liquidity and the management of our fiscal resources must first eliminate revenue leakages arising from governance, including the cost of running the government and the government procurement process. I (and members of my team) would not have lived in luxury while the citizens wallow in misery.

“We would have communicated more effectively with the people, with civility, tact, and diplomacy. Transparent communication with the public is essential to build public trust, which in turn is important to ensure that the public understands what the government is doing.

“We would have consulted more with all stakeholders to learn, negotiate, adapt, and modify, among other policy goals.

“We would have demonstrated more empathy. My Reforms would wear a human face.

“We would have been more strategic in the design and implementation of reform fallout mitigating measures. I would not run a ‘palliative economy’ yet, we would have robust social protection programme that will offer genuine support to the poor and vulnerable and provide immediate comfort and security to enable them to navigate the stormy seas.”

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Specifically, he said his administration “would have undertaken extensive reforms of the public sector institutions to maximise reform impact” focusing on security.

He added he would have “commenced on day one, the reform of security institutions with improved funding, and enhanced welfare. My Policy Document had spelt out a Special Presidential Welfare Initiative for security personnel that we would implement.”

He would have also “adopted alternative approaches to conflict resolution such as diplomacy, intelligence, improved border control, deploying traditional institutions, and good neighbourliness.

“We would have launched an Economic Stimulus Fund (ESF), with an initial investment capacity of approximately US$10 billion to support MSMEs across all economic sectors.”

On funding them, he said he “would have launched a uniquely designed skills-to-job programme that targets all categories of youth, including graduates, early school leavers as well as the massive numbers of uneducated youth who are currently not in education, employment, or training.

“To underscore our commitment to the development of infrastructure, an Infrastructure Development Unit (IDU) directly under the President’s watch would have come into operation.

“The IDU will have a coordinating function and a specific mandate of working with the MDAs to fast track the implementation of the infrastructure reform agenda within the framework provided herein.

“The IDU will hit the ground running in putting the building blocks for our private sector driven Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) of approximately US$25 billion.

“To engender fiscal efficiency and promote accountability and transparency in public financial management, we would have committed to a review of the current fiscal support to ailing State-Owned enterprises.

“We would’ve also begun a process review of government procurement processes to ensure value-for-money and eliminate all leakages.

“We would have initiated a review of the current utilisation of all borrowed funds and ensured that they were deployed more judiciously.”

Atiku further agreed that removing subsidy was good and he would have given it a priority noting that, he has “always advocated for the removal of subsidy on PMS.”

Consequently, he said he would have implemented “a robust social protection programme that will support the poor in navigating the cost-of-living challenges arising largely from reform implementation.

“We would’ve invested the savings from subsidy withdrawal to strengthen the productive base of the economy through infrastructure maintenance and development; to improve outcomes in education and healthcare delivery; to improve rural infrastructure and support livelihood expansion in agriculture; and develop the skills and entrepreneurial capacity of our youth in order to enhance their access to better economic opportunities.”

On foreign exchange, he said he would have reformed “the operation of the foreign exchange market. Specifically, there was a commitment to eliminate multiple exchange rate windows. The system only served to enrich opportunists, rent-seekers, middlemen, arbitrageurs, and fraudsters.”

He argued that a “fixed exchange rate system was out of the question because it would not be in line with our philosophy of running an open, private sector friendly economy.

“On the other hand, given Nigeria’s underlying economic conditions, adopting a floating exchange rate system would be an overkill.

“We would have encouraged our Central Bank to adopt a gradualist approach to FX management. A managed-floating system would have been a preferred option,” Atiku added.

What I would have done differently as President – Atiku