‘Nigerians now poorer than in 2023’, Atiku, Adebayo fire back at Tinubu

• Fault President’s claim of improved quality of life, GDP growth

By Lateef Ibrahim Abuja

Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has expressed bewilderment over President Bola Tinubu’s latest claim that “prosperity is on the horizon” and that “the quality of life is improving,” asking whether the President was referring to another country or the Nigeria that millions of citizens endure every day.

Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo has dismissed the present administration’s claim of GDP (Gross Domestic Products) growth as “paper statistics” saying Nigerians are poorer than they were in 2023.

Adebayo described the President’s economic management, over the past three years, as a failure, insisting that official growth figures cannot conceal the worsening hardship confronting millions of Nigerians.

Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the President’s remarks reveal a troubling disconnect between those who govern and the people they were elected to serve.

According to the presidential flag bearer of the ADC, “Mr. President says prosperity is on the horizon. Nigerians are asking: whose horizon? Certainly not that of the market woman whose capital has been wiped out by inflation. Not that of the civil servant whose salary now expires before the month begins. Not that of the manufacturer struggling under crushing energy costs. Not that of the unemployed graduate who sees no future.

“Certainly not that of farming communities forced off their ancestral lands by terrorists and bandits, families mourning loved ones slaughtered in senseless attacks, or countless Nigerians who now live in daily fear of kidnappers who have turned human lives into commodities. And certainly not that of millions of households that have quietly reduced the number of meals they eat each day simply to survive”, he said.

Atiku said that while no serious person disputes that President Tinubu inherited challenges, added, “no President is elected to inherit excuses”.

Continuing, he said, “The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it.

“Every administration inherits problems. Great leaders are remembered for solving them, not for endlessly rehearsing them”, he stressed.

The former Vice President noted that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration can no longer govern by blaming its predecessors.

His words, “The Nigerian people are not interested in who created the problem. They want to know who will solve it.

” A government that still blames its predecessors after years in office is, by its own conduct, admitting that it has run out of ideas. “President Tinubu may find comfort in blaming those before him, but history will remember his administration as the one under which Nigerians endured unprecedented hardship, institutionalised fiscal recklessness, and one of the greatest appropriation scandals in the annals of our nation.

“The suffering of Nigerians today is driven not by the past, but by an administration that has elevated opacity over transparency, rewarded a privileged circle of cronies, and condemned millions to deepening economic pain, insecurity, and despair.

“It is even more astonishing that a President who constantly invokes China now blames Nigeria’s population for the country’s difficulties.

“China did not become an economic superpower by complaining about the size of its population. It became prosperous because visionary leadership transformed that population into its greatest economic asset through sustained investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, education, technology, and export-led industrialization.

“Great leaders convert challenges into opportunities. They do not convert opportunities into excuses. That is precisely what an Atiku Abubakar administration will do.

“We will invest aggressively in manufacturing, modern infrastructure, quality education, skills acquisition, agriculture, and export-driven industries to unlock the enormous productive capacity of our people.

“Nigeria’s youthful population is not a burden; it is our greatest strategic advantage. Our people are not the problem. President Tinubu’s failed leadership is”, Atiku declared.

He said it was particularly insensitive for the President to suggest that because hunger existed before his birth, Nigerians should somehow accept the unprecedented hardship confronting them today.

He added, “Nobody ‘elected’ Tinubu to eliminate the hunger of 1940. Nigerians ‘elected’ him to confront the hunger of today.

“The fact that previous generations endured hardship is not a licence to deepen the suffering of the present generation”, he maintained.

Atiku stressed that hope is not manufactured through speeches but earned through purposeful leadership and policies that improve lives.

His words, “Hope cannot be preached to a hungry stomach. It cannot be legislated into existence. It cannot substitute for affordable food, stable electricity, productive jobs, quality education, accessible healthcare, or security for families to sleep with both eyes closed. Government inspires hope through performance, not rhetoric.”

He urged President Tinubu to step outside the comfort of official briefings and carefully choreograph ceremonies and reconnect with the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.

“If the President truly believes that the quality of life is improving, then one must respectfully remind him that the Nigeria he is talking about exists only in his head.

“It is certainly not the Nigeria where families are choosing between food and medicine, where communities are fleeing armed violence, where kidnappers dictate the rhythm of daily life, and where hope is becoming more expensive than bread”, he said.

In the same vein, the SDP presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo has dismissed the present administration’s claim of GDP (Gross Domestic Products) growth as “paper statistics” says Nigerians are poorer than they were in 2023.

Adebayo, described President Bola Tinubu’s economic management over the past three years as a failure, insisting that official growth figures cannot conceal the worsening hardship confronting millions of Nigerians.

His remarks come amid a broader national debate over the impact of the administration’s economic reforms, with the government arguing that difficult measures are laying the foundation for long-term stability, while critics dispute whether ordinary Nigerians are seeing the benefits.

Speaking during a televised interview, Adebayo said the administration inherited economic challenges but had made them significantly worse through what he called “economic illiteracy.”

According to him, “The economy is worse than when this administration came in.

“Poverty wasn’t this severe. Fuel wasn’t over ₦1,300 per litre. More companies were operating. Nigerians are paying more for food, transport, rent, school fees and building materials than they did in May 2023”, he said.

The SDP flagbearer dismissed the government’s reliance on GDP growth and other macroeconomic indicators, arguing that such figures are meaningless if they do not translate into better living standards.

He likened the government’s handling of the economy to “taking a patient to the hospital with malaria and leaving with a broken neck,” insisting that improving statistics after worsening conditions should not be celebrated.

Adebayo argued that economic growth must be measured against population growth, inflation, production costs and the government’s fiscal position, maintaining that rising prices, unemployment and the declining purchasing power of Nigerians remain evidence of policy failure.

He also rejected repeated appeals by the administration for patience, saying governments are elected to produce results within their constitutional tenure.

“No government can ask people to spend the rest of their lives being patient while their lives are being ruined. You have four years. Perform within those four years. If you don’t perform, leave office and let someone else take over,” he said.

Outlining what he would do differently if elected president, Adebayo said his first priority would be to stabilize the economy by increasing government revenue, reducing public expenditure, lowering inflation and unemployment, and preventing further increases in the cost of living.

He argued that restoring confidence in the economy begins with protecting the purchasing power of Nigerians and ensuring that government policies improve, rather than diminish, citizens’ standard of living.