The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has challenged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to show Nigerians any major legacy infrastructural project which the government he served initiated and completed in eight years.
The charge is coming against the backdrop of the constant and unrelenting criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s legacy projects and policies by the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC) in the run up to the 2027 elections.
In a statement by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG argued that it was difficult to identify any major completed legacy project tied to the Obasanjo/Atiku administration
The statement read in part, “We have seen how former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has made it a regular pastime to condemn and criticise virtually all policies and projects initiated by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
“It could also be recalled that the presidential candidate toed a similar path while former President Muhammadu Buhari was in office.
“In lampooning the two administrations, the former Vice President and his handlers were always quick to paint him as a viable alternative, and in many cases, claimed that he was the major driver and visionary behind the various policies of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“It is against this backdrop that we urge the ADC presidential candidate to outline for Nigerians the legacy infrastructural projects initiated and completed by that administration in eight years that have stood the test of time.
“Also, it won’t be out of place for him to tell Nigerians the policies he initiated at the time that have over the years made the country a better place.
“We however recalled that when Atiku’s media handlers attempted to frame him as an economic expert who coordinated the then economic team, one of the cabinet members, Oby Ezekwesili, labelled the claim as an absurd lie’and accused them of revisionism.
“While we note that the former Vice President cannot easily claim credit for the work of the Obasanjo-era economic team, we believe he can still list the major legacy infrastructural projects of that administration, if indeed there was any.
“This is because during the first four years of the Obasanjo administration, we are aware that Atiku was handed operational responsibilities at a time his principal was engaged in shuttle diplomacy.
“So it won’t be out of place for Atiku Abubakar to prove wrong Nigerians who see him more as the face of everything with the highly flawed privatisation programme of the Obasanjo era by detailing real life-changing legacy infrastructure projects that could be linked to the government he served for eight years as Vice President.
“We are aware that it was a period the country paid $12.4 billion for debt relief from the Paris Club of creditors but many Nigerians have over the years asserted that it was done at the expense of crumbling infrastructure especially in the power sector and the absence of critical infrastructure including modern rail network.
“So if that administration did not have to commit funds to debt relief in subsequent budget cycles, the question then is, where are the legacy infrastructural projects initiated and completed by the then government?
“We make bold to say that it was not until the Jonathan years that a semblance of activity was noticed in the rail sector upon which the late President Buhari built while the Tinubu administration is now putting in place more expensive and integrated road and rail infrastructural projects.”
The group urged Nigerians to be wary of the former Vice President’s antics of posturing himself as having more federal-level experience than even a serving President ahead of the 2027 elections.
