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Atiku Accuses Tinubu of ‘Economic Deception’ Over Subsidy Savings, Demands ‘Where Is the Money?’ as ASUU Threatens Fresh Strike

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"EuUwwLeZ" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa<&sol;p><div class&equals;"oxOaHlhP" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Bola Tinubu administration of what he called one of the most cynical economic deceptions in Nigeria’s recent history&comma; saying it removed fuel subsidy&comma; imposed crushing hardship on millions of families&comma; promised that savings would transform education and other essential services&comma; and has now failed to meet basic obligations to university lecturers or prevent another round of industrial action&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication&comma; Phrank Shaibu&comma; Atiku said Nigerians had already paid the price through higher fuel costs&comma; transport fares&comma; food prices&comma; energy bills and school fees&period; Yet&comma; he said&comma; public universities remain underfunded&comma; lecturers are complaining about unpaid entitlements and unresolved agreements&comma; and students once again face the threat of disruption to the academic calendar&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If the subsidy is gone and Nigerians have paid for that decision through unprecedented hardship&comma; then President Tinubu owes the country a simple answer&colon; where is the money&quest;” Atiku said&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"LhCf9l6T" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>He said the government sold subsidy removal to Nigerians on the promise that the enormous sacrifice imposed on families would release resources for education&comma; healthcare&comma; infrastructure and other essential services&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The house of cards of falsehoods erected by the Tinubu administration to justify the suffering of Nigerians is collapsing before our eyes&comma;” he said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A government that strips citizens of relief&comma; denies them meaningful social protection and fails to deliver the basic improvements it promised has forfeited the moral credibility to continue preaching sacrifice&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Atiku accused the administration of imposing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis&comma; saying families are struggling with soaring food prices&comma; punishing transport costs&comma; expensive energy and shrinking incomes&period; Instead of cushioning the consequences of its own economic decisions&comma; he said&comma; the government has largely abandoned Nigerians to carry the burden alone&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;That is what makes the present university crisis indefensible&period; Government removed the cushion&comma; collected the supposed savings and imposed the hardship&comma; but Nigerians cannot see the corresponding improvement in their schools&comma; hospitals or everyday lives&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;More than three years later&comma; lecturers are still raising concerns about unpaid salaries and unresolved agreements&period; ASUU is again warning of industrial action&period; University infrastructure remains inadequate&comma; while millions of young Nigerians compete every year for limited admission spaces&period; So where is the money&quest;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Atiku also rejected the administration’s defence that subsidy removal has led to increased allocations to state governments&comma; saying it raises an even more troubling question about the condition of public education across the federation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Government officials repeatedly tell Nigerians that subsidy savings have translated into larger allocations to states&period; But if substantially more money is supposedly flowing to the states&comma; why has the condition of public education not improved accordingly&quest;” he asked&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said public education remains under severe pressure across the country&comma; with several state-owned universities experiencing industrial disputes and disruptions&comma; even as the Federal Government continues to advertise stability in the tertiary education calendar&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The crisis is therefore not merely a federal university problem&period; It exposes a wider contradiction between the enormous revenues government celebrates and the deteriorating public services Nigerians actually experience&comma;” he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You cannot boast about record allocations while students sit at home because lecturers are on strike&period; You cannot celebrate higher revenues when classrooms&comma; laboratories&comma; hostels and teaching facilities remain inadequate&period; If more money is reaching both the Federal Government and the states&comma; Nigerians are entitled to ask why the quality and capacity of public education remain so painfully deficient&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Atiku said the crisis also exposes the contradiction at the heart of the administration’s student loan policy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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