Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo, SAN, has slammed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, saying President Bola Tinubu is clearing the mess he created.

Atiku had accused Tinubu of creating hardship and making life expensive for Nigerians. He also lamented that parents now go to bed worried about what to feed their children the next day.

Reacting, Keyamo accused Atiku of hypocrisy, recalling that in September 2004, when he was Vice President, his government woke up one morning and liquidated Nigeria Airways, throwing thousands of Nigerians out of jobs and into sorrow and pain.

"Your Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, this is hypocrisy at its peak! Let me just talk only about the sector that I head, Aviation.

"In September 2004, when you were Vice-President, your Government woke up one morning and liquidated Nigeria Airways, throwing thousands of Nigerian out of jobs and into sorrow and pain. To add salt into their wounds, you refused to pay them their pensions and gratuities, running into billions of Naira.

"Twenty-two years later, after many of them have died out of frustration, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now clearing the mess you left behind.

"Over a month ago, Mr. President approved and released the total sum N36 billion to bring succour to these families. They have started receiving alerts and praying for Mr. President. In fact, the President was given an Award for this by the workers’ union a few weeks ago.

"Yet you sit down there and pontificate? It’s only the younger ones who don’t know your history you can attempt to hoodwink, but we will expose you to them. You cannot disguise your inordinate ambition in a cloud of rhetorical gibberish.

"When it is convenient for you, you claim some credit of the Obasanjo-Atiku government and when not convenient, you say Obasanjo was in charge and not you as Vice-President. The proper posturing of a con artist!"

ASA