The Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of an “age of prosperity,” saying Nigerians are struggling to afford food, fuel and transport three years into his administration.
Speaking at the party’s headquarters on Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary, the former vice president said the removal of the fuel subsidy was carried out without adequate protection for vulnerable families. He asked what benefits Nigerians have received from the promised savings.
Atiku said the minimum wage has risen on paper but buys far less than before. According to his figures, the old ₦30,000 wage bought about 118 litres of petrol in April 2023, while today’s ₦70,000 wage buys about 50 litres.
He also said the average price of an egg rose from about ₦88 to ₦261 between April 2023 and May 2026, and that a sliced loaf now costs about ₦2,000 for a smaller size, up from about ₦500.
“A speech about prosperity is not prosperity,” Atiku said, responding to the president’s claim that the period of emergency treatment for the economy has ended.
He rejected the president’s description of Nigeria as a patient under treatment, arguing that a doctor listens when the patient complains.
He offered his own plan to make life “affordable again,” proposing a capped and budgeted production subsidy for fuel refined in Nigeria, including from modular refineries. Imported petrol would not qualify, he said, and costs would be published and audited.
On Tinubu’s promise of cheaper transport from October 1, Atiku asked the government to name the routes and fares. “Nigerians cannot board an announcement,” he said.
He also questioned how the government paid ₦75,000 cash transfers to more than ten million people, as claimed by the ruling party chairman, and asked for transaction records or receipts.
He called for transparency over the award of the Lagos to Calabar Coastal Highway contract to Hitech, a Chagoury Group company, and demanded that the government pay local contractors who completed projects.
He further cited public debt of ₦166.79 trillion at the end of June and a proposed $1.5 billion in additional World Bank loans.
The candidate also pointed to the deaths of three people in a stampede at the Niger State Government House, where a crowd had gathered amid reports of a ₦10,000 handout, and called for a full account of how the gathering was organised.
Beyond the economy, Atiku called for fair application of the rule of law, citing the detention of Sheikh Sani Khalifa Zaria and Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, and urged that Nnamdi Kanu’s right of appeal be respected.
He repeated his demand for the release of five young people arrested in Borno for wearing “Tinubu Must Go” shirts.
Atiku pledged to respect the independence of the electoral commission, support prompt publication of results from every polling unit, and prosecute vote buying and result manipulation, including by members of his own party.
“Despair is not a strategy,” he told supporters, closing with the message that “Tinubu must go.”
