PDP, APC TRADE ACCUSATIONS OVER TINUBU, ATIKU’S MANIFESTOS

The Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday exchanged words with the All Progressives Congress over the manifestoes of their respective Presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu.

While the PDP asked the ruling party and its candidate to explain how they intended to do away with subsidy without inflicting pain on Nigerians, the APC presidential candidate shaded his counterpart, Atiku, saying he would not be a part-time president ‘’that will spend 50 per cent of his time ruling the country from Dubai.’’

The former Lagos State governor in his manifesto unveiled in Abuja on Friday said he would fully deregulate the downstream, sparking anxiety that this may lead to a hike in fuel prices and inflation.

The regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has been paying subsidies since 2015 and it has also allocated N3.6tn  in the 2023 budget to fund the fuel subsidy for the first half of next year.

But responding to inquiries from The PUNCH on Sunday, the spokesman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala said the ruling party and its candidate should clarify how they planned to deregulate the downstream sector without sparking inflation and hardship on the people.