Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration of worsening poverty and the cost-of-living crisis in Nigeria.
Atiku made the allegation on Thursday while delivering a state-of-the-nation address in Abuja to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary. Among the many issues he pointed out bedeviling the nation, he cited rising insecurity and the high cost of living as evidence of what he described as failures of the administration.
His remarks came hours after President Tinubu’s Independence Day broadcast, in which the President defended his administration’s economic reforms and said Nigeria was moving from an era of reform into an “age of prosperity.” In speech, Tinubu said the reforms had corrected the country’s economic direction and that the next phase would focus on reducing the cost of living; inclusing creating jobs and expanding production.
Atiku disputed that assessment, arguing that the economic conditions facing Nigerians did not reflect the President’s description of a stable and improving economy. He said that, 66 years after independence, the APC administration had taken Nigeria “deeper into poverty, far from the dreams of the founding fathers.”
The ADC candidate for the 2027 presidential election, also criticised the government’s handling of the reforms introduced since 2023, particularly their impact on household purchasing power. In his address, he argued that Nigerians were struggling with the rising cost of basic necessities while being asked to wait for the benefits of the reforms.
Tinubu, however, acknowledged in his own Independence Day address that the reforms had brought hardship and “profound disappointment” but maintained that the difficult phase was necessary to correct structural weaknesses in the economy. He said the government was now shifting its focus toward “shared and widespread prosperity.”
Atiku also called on Nigerians not to lose hope and urged citizens to participate in the 2027 election, while warning against claims that the outcome had already been predetermined.
The competing Independence Day addresses highlighted the contrasting assessments of the administration’s economic record: Tinubu presented the reforms as having laid the foundation for future prosperity, while Atiku argued that Nigerians were experiencing worsening economic hardship.
