President Bola Tinubu has hit back at former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. The president stated that his former ally was playing blind if Mr Abubakar could not see the progress his administration is making to take Nigeria out of the doldrums.

The former vice-president had, in a statement on Thursday, berated Mr Tinubu as one of the most incompetent Nigerian leaders in history.

However, the president, through his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Friday, said, “Atiku’s sweeping criticism is unfair and appears to be driven more by animosity than objective analysis.”

Debunking Mr Abubakar’s criticism of Mr Tinubu’s request for fresh loans, Mr Onanuga slammed the opposition figure for “again ignorantly” accusing the president’s administration of borrowing fresh money to support the 2025 budget. The statement said Mr Abubakar “relied on social media gossip that the fresh loan request to the National Assembly was for that purpose”.

It added, “The finance minister has debunked this as untrue and said that even this year, the government only wants to borrow about $1.2 billion.”

The statement explained that contrary to Mr Abubakar’s claim that Mr Tinubu’s policies are “anti-people”, the president increased investments in social safety nets, introduced targeted interventions for low-income households, and more than doubled the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000.

“But as President Tinubu said in his statement, marking his second anniversary, we have made progress. Inflation is easing, food production is rising, investments are returning, and the foundation for a more prosperous, just, and inclusive Nigeria is being laid,” the statement noted. “These gains are in plain sight for everyone. Only those who play blind will not see them.”

Unless Mr Abubakar “still lives in Dubai, he ought to admit that in just two years”, Mr Tinubu “has embarked on the most ambitious and audacious economic and institutional reforms ever seen in decades,” stated Mr Onanuga.

“Nigerians deserve opposition leaders who offer solutions, not just criticism. We invite all Nigerians to judge this administration by its actions, not by the rhetoric of those who have had their opportunities to lead and who bungled the chance in years past, sold national assets for pittance, and shortchanged their compatriots,” the statement pointed out.