Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused President Bola Tinubu of plunging Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in history.
Atiku stated this in his Independence Anniversary message, saying that families are not merely tightening their belts but they’re skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday.
He slammed Tinubu’s Independence Anniversary broadcast, saying that the government is asking the citizens to have more patience, endure hardship, while those in power preside over brazen waste, corruption and a budget process that makes a mockery of fiscal discipline. “The people are told there’s no money to ease their pain, yet the government always seems to find money for its own appetites.”
He maintained that Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy with one announcement and no credible protection in place for the families who would bear the shock. “Petrol, transport and the cost of moving food rose. He promised that the savings would benefit Nigerians. Three years later, the pain has an address in every home. Bola, where is the benefit?”
Speaking on rising insecurity, Atiku stressed that the nation is bleeding. “Armed groups have killed thousands and driven families from their communities. Farmers fear their fields. Parents fear for children in their classrooms. Families dread the call demanding ransom for someone they love. A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people.”
Speaking further about the state of poverty, Atiku said, “Today, Tinubu told us that the “emergency treatment is over” and the “age of prosperity” has begun. A President may announce a new chapter in a speech. He cannot announce food onto a family’s table or money into a worker’s pocket. Bola, where is this prosperity?
“Bola says inflation has fallen. A slower rise in prices doesn’t restore what families have lost. He cites growth and rising exports. Nigerian businesses deserve credit for what they’ve achieved. But growth must improve lives. It cannot be a certificate of success that the government awards itself while citizens struggle to survive.”
Referring to the analogy made by the President on the state of Nigeria being a patient, the ADC presidential candidate, said, “Bola, you call Nigeria a patient with cancer. After three years of your treatment, why is it harder for Nigerians to buy food, pay for medicine or even get to work? Why does your government have more money while the people can afford less?
“You say Nigerians must endure the pain because you’re curing the disease. But when a patient cries out, a doctor listens. He doesn’t call the patient “regressive” for asking when he’ll get better. He doesn’t point to the hospital’s rising revenue and declare him healed. A patient who cannot afford to live is not proof that the treatment is working.”
He faulted the President’s position on the student loan scheme, saying that he shouldn’t describe every new loan as an opportunity. “A student loan doesn’t make education affordable when fees are rising. Under your watch, some institutions have raised fees by more than 400 per cent, and your answer is to offer students loans to pay them. Consumer credit doesn’t make a worker prosperous if repayment takes another bite out of a wage already too small to live on.”
He also disagreed with the president on his position that when farmers produce more cheaply and manufacturers spend less on electricity, prices will fall, saying that it’s not achievable. According to him, “Farmers and manufacturers are telling you that they cannot produce cheaply now. A farmer who cannot safely reach his field cannot wait for your theory of cheaper food. A factory paying more to keep its machines running cannot wait for another promise of industrial growth.”
Meanwhile, the former Vice President has promised that if elected President, he’ll end election rigging, respect INEC’s independence, support the prompt publication of results from every polling unit, and insist that anyone caught buying votes or changing results faces the law – even if that person belongs to my party.
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