Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Tinubu to prove his commitment to his government’s “Nigeria First” policy by replacing his foreign-made vehicles with locally-produced ones.
Atiku recently revealed that Tinubu’s actions will speak louder than his words if he really wants to convince citizens that the country truly comes first for him.
Speaking via a press statement released today by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said that because leaders should always lead by example, the President should immediately stop his use of foreign luxury automobiles and opt for locally made brands henceforth.
According to him, he believes BAT’s latest policy is just another tired PR stunt designed by the current government to deceive innocent Nigerians, and Tinubu will only prove him wrong when he starts practising what he preaches.
“The Tinubu administration’s latest Nigeria First mantra, paraded through the Federal Executive Council, is nothing but another tired PR stunt—designed to deceive, not deliver. Nigerians have grown weary of hollow speeches. If this government is truly serious about local content and economic patriotism, it must start at the very top.
We challenge President Tinubu to stop the noise and trade in his beloved Escalade for an Innoson, Nord or any made-in-Nigeria car. That single act will do more to promote the local industry than a thousand policy memos. Let’s see the ministers—those shameless Rolls-Royce connoisseurs—sweat it out in Nigerian-made vehicles, too. Or is Nigeria First only for the masses?
It’s time Mr. President shelves his love affair with Paris and London. If he’s serious about patriotism, his next vacation should be at Obudu Cattle Ranch, Yankari Game Reserve, or Erin Ijesha Waterfalls. Nigeria is beautiful—unless, of course, the President thinks otherwise,” it read.
Atiku urged Tinubu to also commit to using Nigerian hospitals for all of his medical care from now on, because regularly jetting off to London and Paris for medical treatments while preaching self-reliance is very contradictory.
“The era of jetting off for medical tourism while preaching self-reliance must end. We demand that President Tinubu—champion of Nigeria First—conduct all future medical check-ups at LUTH, National Hospital Abuja, UCH Ibadan, or even the ₦41 billion Akwa Ibom world-class hospital in Uyo. If these hospitals are good enough for ordinary Nigerians, they should be good enough for their Commander-in-Chief. Anything less is sheer hypocrisy.
This government’s addiction to foreign luxuries while demanding sacrifice from suffering Nigerians is the height of insincerity. True leadership isn’t photo-ops or soundbites—it’s setting the tone by example,” it added.
