Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of offering “political anaesthesia” ahead of 2027, saying the real issue is not him but why Nigerians can no longer afford basic living costs.
In a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Tinubu’s latest remarks attacking his economic proposals exposed a contradiction in government policy.
“Only last night, President Bola Tinubu devoted a substantial part of his latest statement, released on X, attacking the economic position of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, yet declined, rather theatrically, to mention him by name, claiming that he would not ‘dignify’ opposition leaders,” Shaibu said.
“Bola, Nigerians know exactly whose policy you were attacking. You were responding to Atiku Abubakar because he has chosen to stand with millions of Nigerians being crushed by the cost-of-living crisis.”
Shaibu faulted Tinubu for condemning proposals to reduce energy costs while simultaneously promising relief measures “in the next few weeks.”
“You condemn Atiku’s proposal to reduce the cost of energy as a return to the past, yet in the same breath promise that, ‘in the next few weeks,’ your government will provide cheaper transportation, increase food production and introduce relief for vulnerable Nigerians. Bola, why now?” he asked.
“For more than three years, Nigerians have endured punishing transport fares, soaring food prices, crippling energy costs and wages that buy less every month… Why did Nigerians have to suffer for more than three years before your government discovered that economic growth must reach ‘the dining table and the pocket’?”
The statement cited petrol prices in other oil-producing countries to argue that Nigeria’s ₦1,400 per litre was unsustainable.
“Atiku is ashamed on your behalf that Nigeria, one of Africa’s major oil-producing nations, has reached the point where ordinary citizens pay significantly more for petrol than citizens of several other oil-producing countries with substantially higher incomes,” Shaibu said.
He listed Saudi Arabia at about ₦778 per litre, Kuwait at ₦872, Algeria at ₦475, Angola at ₦441, the UAE at below ₦1,400, and Libya at roughly ₦34 per litre.
“A Nigerian earning the ₦70,000 statutory minimum wage requires ₦56,000 merely to buy 40 litres of petrol at ₦1,400 per litre. That is 80 per cent of an entire month’s minimum wage. Before that worker buys food, pays rent, electricity, school fees or medical bills, four-fifths of his monthly wage can disappear into just 40 litres of petrol,” Shaibu added.
Shaibu said the Atiku Economic Recovery Plan (AERP) proposes targeted support for Nigerian crude supplied to domestic refineries within a “capped, transparently budgeted and independently audited framework” to bring down pump prices.
“Reduce fuel costs and you reduce pressure on transportation. Reduce transportation costs and you reduce the cost of moving tomatoes, rice, yam, livestock and manufactured goods… That is structural relief,” he said.
He dismissed Tinubu’s use of NELFUND to counter the proposal, describing it as “witchcraft economics: create the burden with one hand, offer debt with the other, and demand applause for the intervention.”
“Atiku has reviewed the current student-loan policy and believes education should not begin with a mountain of debt hanging over a young Nigerian’s future. His approach will reduce the underlying cost of education and, after review, provide forgiveness for qualifying student debts,” Shaibu stated.
Demands transparency on ₦15.8trn, ₦30trn, ₦34trn
The Atiku camp also demanded accountability on major government revenue figures.
“We have repeatedly demanded a comprehensive reconciliation of the nearly ₦30 trillion identified across Federation Account revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related entries,” Shaibu said.
“Your government says subsidy removal mobilised about ₦15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025… So what measurable improvement reached the average Nigerian household in exchange for that sacrifice?”
“There is equally the disclosure that Import Duty Exemption Certificate approvals covered about ₦34 trillion worth of imports in 2025. Nigerians deserve to know who benefited, the values attached to those exemptions, their legal basis and the measurable public benefit they delivered.”
He concluded: “When you return, bring answers. Reconcile the Federation Account figures of ₦30 trillion Naira. Provide full transparency around the duty exemptions of over ₦34 trillion Naira. Explain what Nigerians concretely received for the ₦15.8 trillion your government says subsidy removal mobilised. And explain why intervention is supposedly backward when Atiku proposes it, but miraculously becomes Renewed Hope when you announce it.”
Tinubu: ‘Renewed Hope Agenda is working’ as Q2 GDP hits 4.43%
On Monday, President Tinubu said the Renewed Hope Agenda is delivering results, with Nigeria’s economy growing by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 and key economic indicators showing significant improvement.
In a post on his X handle, the President said the Q2 growth was up from 4.23 per cent recorded in the same period last year and reflected expansion across agriculture, manufacturing, oil and gas, and services.
“Our economy grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.23 per cent in the same period last year,” Tinubu said.
“Growth was recorded across agriculture, manufacturing, oil and gas, and services, which now make the largest contribution to our GDP.”
In nominal terms, the President said GDP reached ₦119.27 trillion, representing an 18.43 per cent increase from ₦100.7 trillion in Q2 2025.
‘Three years of difficult reforms’
Tinubu said the figures show the payoff from “three years of difficult but necessary reforms” aimed at stabilising the economy.
“In the past three years, we tried to do the hard part by implementing the necessary reforms to stabilise the economy. Now the economy is stabilised, and we have laid the foundation for a prosperous nation,” he said.
“We didn’t do the reforms to create challenges, but to ensure prosperity reaches all our people. The results are becoming very clear.”
The President listed trade surpluses, foreign reserves at their highest level in 17 years, an improved credit rating and the return of investors as evidence of progress.
He also noted rising oil and gas production, ongoing infrastructure projects and stability in the education sector.
“In our universities, for the first time in a long time, there are no strikes. Our children are in class. Through NELFUND, student loans are putting education within reach, while affordable credit is going to our civil servants through CreditCorp,” he said.
We will not turn back’
Tinubu warned that despite the positive trends, some opposition figures are promising to reverse the reforms.
“Yet, at precisely the point when the evidence shows that our reforms are beginning to work, some in the opposition are promising Nigerians that they will reverse them. We will not turn back,” he declared.
“We will not return Nigeria to the policies and distortions we inherited and have spent the last three years correcting. I will not dignify the leaders of the opposition who now seek to take Nigeria back to their dark past by mentioning their names. They know themselves.”
Next phase: translating growth to citizens’ welfare
The President said the next focus of government is to ensure economic growth translates into improved living standards.
“Our responsibility now is to ensure that these improving numbers translate more quickly into the lives of our people,” Tinubu said.
“In the next few weeks, we are addressing some of the challenges facing our vulnerable population by providing cheaper means of transport, ramping up food production and implementing relief programmes that will touch lives at the grassroots.”
He added: “The economy is on an irreversible path towards even stronger growth, but growth must be something every Nigerian can feel at the dining table and in their pocket. That is the next phase of our work, and we are not resting on our oars. The Renewed Hope Agenda is working.”
Credit: Nigerian Tribune