A war of words broke out Sunday between Vice President Atiku Abubakar and President Goodluck Jonthan over the state of Nigeria’s economy.A statement from Atiku’s campaign office ``expressed grave concerns  over worsening economic profile of the country''.But President Jonathan’s campaign organization  in a  counter statement released by Sully Abu , the director of publicity said Atiku’s words amount to scare- mongering because the economy is on the right track

Atiku’s  salvo  titled``Atiku expresses fears on state of the economy’’said : Former Vice President and presidential aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar , has expressed grave concerns over  worsening economic profile of the country.

 Abubakar in a press statement by his campaign organisation at the weekend stated that recent reports on the Nigerian economy continue to confirm the fears he had expressed that the economy deserves better management. He called on the Jonathan government to take the serial revelations of a worsening economy as a wake-up call to address the fundamental issues that keeps troubling the economy.

The former Vice President said the recent release by the Central Bank of Nigeria that the nation’s  foreign reserves fell by a whopping 15 percent  from $40.75billion to $34.57bn within a year confirms his earlier warning that the government needs to devote more attention to the economy.

Atiku called on the federal government to explain to Nigerians why the foreign reserve is being so rapidly depleted at a time of massive increases in oil revenue.   

 The former Vice President, also expressed concern over the recent report of the African Institute of Applied Economics, which revealed that Nigeria’s business operating environment is deteriorating rapidly, and that it is indeed worse than it was in 2007.

 The report of the survey released last week showed that a combination of insecurity, dilapidated infrastructure and institutional challenges had further sunk the country’s economy below those of countries like Ghana, South Africa and others in the West African sub region.

 The Campaign said: “With these steady negative news flows about our economy, it is clear that the ability of the country to attain the 2015 Millennium Development Goals is in serious jeopardy. We are also gravely concerned that unless something is done urgently the economy could be heading for the abyss with deleterious consequences for employment creation and investment in the critical sectors of our economy such as health, education and security”.

Atiku said this report has again confirmed his fears that the Jonathan government is not judiciously executing the PDP manifesto to guarantee economic prosperity and welfare of Nigerians.

Atiku who had in recent weeks called for a debate on the economy by presidential aspirants in the country said the incumbent government has not exhibited enough competence and the will to address the problems that keep making the economy to flounder.

“The economy needs the influx of foreign capital to jump start it and the requisite investment will not come as long as the flip flop in economy policy continues”, Atiku said.

“The challenges of infrastructural development have to be addresses frontally to guarantee the public infrastructure that will make the economy attractive to investors. The policy framework to attract foreign investment has to be reviewed to make Nigeria competitive as a destination of foreign investment. The critical sectors of the economy like the textile industry and agriculture deserve more creative attention if we are to break out of this cycle of economic crisis”,Atiku said.

Finally, Atiku expressed fears that the federal government has returned Nigeria into the list of major debtor nations. He said latest report that Nigeria’s external debt has risen to N25.8billion is another evidence that the economy deserves a better manager. He said the success of recent years when Nigeria’s debt burden was reduced through a combination of strategies are been reversed with the mounting debt burden.

 Atiku said the economy needs a manager who has experience in managing public and private finance, saying it is the combination of this that can guarantee the formulation and execution of policies that will take the economy out of the doldrums. He restated his call for a debate among presidential aspirants, arguing that it is time for Nigerians to assess the competence of the men who seek to manage the nation’s economy.

Jonathan’s counter attack titled``Economy on the right track’’ in statement by Abu said``Having failed dismally with their scare tactics to frighten Nigerians about our nation’s political space, the opposition is now resorting to scaremongering on the state of the economy. 

'The alarm by the Atiku Campaign Organization and their use of selective information on the state of the economy flies in the face of the evidence of robust growth being recorded. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga this week stated categorically that the economy enjoyed a 7% growth in the first half of this year. Indications are that a double digit growth could be recorded by the end of next year, he said.

 'The optimism about the economy is fuelled by the Jonathan administration’scommitment to massive investment in power and infrastructure designed totransform the way Nigerians live and work. Investors are responding enthusiastically to the new climate as indicated by the massive interest in the opportunities presented for instance in the power roadmap drawn up by the administration.

'While great challenges remain to accelerate the growth potentials of the economy, Nigerians can now more than ever before look to the future with renewed hope and enthusiasm.