Presidency Tackles Atiku: You Can’t Call Tinubu A Dull Student When You Went To School Of Hygiene And He Graduated First-Class In Accounting
The Presidency has hit back at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar after he described President Bola Tinubu as a ‘dull student’, with presidential aide Sunday Dare citing Tinubu’s first-class accounting degree in defence of the President.
Dare, the Special Adviser to Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, dismissed Atiku’s remark as absurdity in a statement responding to the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate’s criticism of the Federal Government’s fuel price discount policy.
Atiku had on Friday compared Tinubu to a dull student who copied a classmate’s answer while reacting to the announcement of a 30-day fuel price discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling stations nationwide.
The former Vice President accused Tinubu of adopting his proposal for a production subsidy but allegedly removing the central feature that made the policy effective. His criticism followed an announcement by Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele on the temporary fuel price discount.
Responding, Dare argued that Atiku’s attempt to present himself as more knowledgeable about economic policy did not withstand scrutiny. He also questioned the basis for Atiku’s description of Tinubu as dull, pointing to the President’s academic qualification.
” Atiku’s attempt to position himself as the ‘smart student’ teaching economic policy falls apart under even light scrutiny. First, it is sheer absurdity that a man who graduated from a school of hygiene dares to call a first-class accounting graduate a dull student,” Dare said.
The presidential aide also criticised Atiku’s proposed production subsidy, describing it as a flawed economic proposal rather than a workable alternative. He argued that the proposal would not deliver the benefits Atiku claimed and accused the former Vice President of presenting the issue misleadingly to Nigerians.
Dare further alleged that Atiku had accused Tinubu of copying his economic proposal while overlooking what he described as its essential component, the production subsidy. He said the Presidency intended to examine the figures behind the competing policy positions, although the available report does not include the full numerical breakdown of his argument.
The exchange has brought the two politicians’ competing positions on fuel pricing and economic policy into sharper focus, with Atiku criticising the government’s approach and the Presidency defending Tinubu’s credentials while challenging the feasibility of the opposition figure’s proposal.
