Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential flag bearer, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for linking Nigeria’s pension challenges to the Obasanjo/Atiku administration, describing the remarks as “ghosting and shadow chasing” by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.
He said the President’s comments were misplaced, insisting that the Tinubu administration should concentrate on solving the country’s mounting economic and social challenges instead of engaging in what he described as a blame game over past governments.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Atiku Media Office, the former vice president urged the Tinubu administration to focus on addressing the country’s current challenges rather than blaming previous governments for inherited problems.
He maintained that government is a continuum and said the President should build on past reforms instead of engaging in what he described as a political blame game.
The statement was in response to remarks reportedly made by President Tinubu while receiving a delegation of North-East political stakeholders led by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum. During the meeting, Tinubu was said to have attributed the country’s pension backlog to the Obasanjo/Atiku administration.
Rejecting the claim, Atiku’s media office argued that the Obasanjo administration inherited an unsustainable pension system in 1999, with an estimated ₦2 trillion liability under the old Defined Benefits Scheme.
It said the administration responded by introducing the Pension Reform Act of 2004, which established the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and created the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to regulate the sector.
According to the statement, the reforms replaced the old pay-as-you-go pension model with a contributory system requiring both employers and employees to make regular contributions into individual Retirement Savings Accounts. It added that the introduction of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) improved transparency, reduced political interference, and laid the foundation for the country’s current pension assets.
The media office further noted that the Obasanjo/Atiku administration implemented other economic reforms, including debt relief, financial sector reforms, and policies that attracted investment into the banking, telecommunications, and other key sectors.
Atiku urged President Tinubu to focus on addressing pressing national challenges, including insecurity, hunger, youth unemployment, and the economy, instead of attributing current governance problems to past administrations.