Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s administration of hypocrisy, describing its recently unveiled “Nigeria First” mantra as a deceptive tactics lacking genuine intent to transform the country.
Atiku stated this in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, who challenged President Tinubu to demonstrate a true patriotism by replacing his official foreign-made luxury vehicle with a locally manufactured car and to receive all future medical care within Nigerian hospitals to live by example.
“We challenge President Tinubu to stop the noise and trade in his beloved Escalade for an Innoson, Nord or any made-in-Nigeria car. That single act will do more to promote local industry than a thousand policy memos,” Atiku said.
He further called on Tinubu ministers, whom he described as “shameless Rolls Royce connoisseurs,” to also demonstrate their patriotism by adopting Nigerian-made vehicles as a show of solidarity with the suffering masses.
More so, the former vice president urged Tinubu to end his “love affair with Paris and London” and instead spend vacations at local tourist attractions like Obudu Cattle Ranch, Yankari Game Reserve, or Erin Ijesha Waterfalls to convince Nigerians that he mean what he says.
“Nigeria is beautiful — unless, of course, the President thinks otherwise,” he remarked.
Atiku noted that since the coming of President Tinubu on board, he has frequented overseas medical trips, the action that Atiku labeled as a glaring contradiction of the government’s public calls for self-reliance.
“We demand that President Tinubu — champion of ‘Nigeria First’ — conduct all future medical check-ups at LUTH, National Hospital Abuja, UCH Ibadan, or even the N41 billion Akwa Ibom world-class hospital in Uyo. If these hospitals are good enough for ordinary Nigerians, they should be good enough for their Commander-in-Chief. Anything less is sheer hypocrisy,” he said.
Your administration cannot be indulging in foreign luxuries while you are asking Nigerians to make sacrifices, Atiku said the action that the government had failed to inspire trust or confidence.
“True leadership isn’t photo-ops or soundbites—it’s setting the tone by example. Nigeria deserves real commitment, not this never-ending charade,” he concluded
