Former Cross River State Governor and presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has criticised the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing the government of worsening hardship while generating financial gains for itself.
Duke, in a statement on Saturday, said Nigerians were bearing the consequences of an economic direction that had failed to provide meaningful relief, arguing that the country should focus on policies that promote growth and improve living standards.
He said recent exchanges between the Tinubu administration and major opposition parties had convinced him that the President was unwilling to reconsider what he described as anti-people policies.
“The ongoing exchanges between the Tinubu administration and the leading opposition parties is clear evidence that President Tinubu has no plans to review or change key anti-people policies that have become the hallmarks of his administration,” he said.
Duke particularly criticised the government’s approach to fuel subsidy, arguing that the current system had replaced one problematic arrangement with another.
“The fuel subsidy scam which had preceded the Tinubu administration has been replaced by the poorly-managed option which makes money for governments and impoverishes citizens and the economy,” Duke said.
He urged the government and political actors to move away from arguments over existing policies and adopt practical economic measures capable of promoting growth while reducing poverty.
“The nation must move beyond debates and adopt well-informed and strategically-designed options to the current economic policies can both address growth and alleviate crushing levels of poverty,” he said.
Duke said the PRP would pursue a different economic approach if elected, with greater scrutiny of Nigeria’s economic strengths and policies designed around the welfare of citizens.
“Under the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), sources of the strength of our economy will be reinforced by imaginative scrutiny, enlightened policies and livelihoods of Nigerians as priorities,” he said.
He further called for leadership capable of managing Nigeria’s resources more effectively and converting the country’s assets into sustainable economic growth and development.
“Nigerians deserve an administration that will respond to good management and growth and development of our assets,” Duke said.
