9 months ago
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A group identified as the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has warned former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, against putting out fallacious statements while discussing national issues.
They urged Atiku to be more decorous and truthful.
The group argued that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer in the 2023 election has been making statements aimed at demonising President Bola Tinubu’s policies through deceptive generalisations.
Speaking via a policy document signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, the group noted that all the press statements issued by the former presidential candidate in the last few days show an uncharacteristic poor understanding of issues by an individual who was once a Vice President.
It noted that it came to such a conclusion after a careful analysis of Atiku’s recent public statements on President Tinubu’s policy deployments.
The group said, “In one of the statements, Waziri Abubakar sought an explanation on the conditions precedent to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) securing a $3.3billion loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank), and had gone ahead to make irreverent and common place imputations and conclusions that we considered as belittling his station.
“We find this rather perplexing knowing that Waziri Abubakar had once occupied the second highest office in the land and thus, should understand the basic nuances of corporate power structure and decision-making process. We also find it perplexing as Atiku in his rejected ‘Covenant with Nigerians’, supported “transparency and accountability in the operation of NNPC Limited and associated enterprises.”
“The NNPCL had come to the public space to clarify the fact that in compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act that set it up, decided to collaborate with the CBN as its revenue receiving authority and there are indeed enough provisions of the Act to back its position.
“To our minds, a neophyte business administrator will know that a company’s board of directors has proprietary right over the company and, by extension, its management.
“Such decision can be made at the level of the board of directors without much ceremony especially in consideration of the fact that the CBN is the federal government’s banker. We wonder which bank can better receive NNPCL’s revenue than the CBN? The Waziri is apparently intentional about mudslinging in this circumstance.”
