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ADC to Tinubu: Nigerians won’t forget how you plunged them into poverty
Nigerians neither lived in a worse condition as it is happening now nor experienced the level of nightmare in the history of the country, African Democratic Congress (ADC), insisted on Sunday.
The party parading some key political figures in Nigeria under a coalition arrangement, and now the main opposition platform, made the claim while replying to the All Progressive Congress (APC), which is accusing it of inciting Nigerians.
ADC, had last week, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to put a seal on the rising cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which had shot up as a result of the war being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran, which drew a clapback from the ruling party.
But unfazed, the opposition party maintained that Tinubu and his government must face the reality of the Nigerian situation instead of launching attacks on the opposition.
Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, who conveyed its position on Sunday, said in a statement: “The African Democratic Congress takes note of the ruling party, APC’s response to our earlier statement on the rising poverty figures under the Bola Tinubu-led government.
“But instead of addressing the clear evidence that more Nigerians are falling into poverty under this government, the ruling party has chosen to attack the opposition and dismiss the lived realities of millions of citizens. Facts, however, cannot be dismissed by press statements.
“The independent report that triggered this debate shows that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 percent, up from about 50 percent before the removal of the petrol subsidy. This means that tens of millions of additional Nigerians have been pushed into poverty since the administration’s economic policies were introduced. The APC claims Nigerians support its reforms, yet the data says otherwise.
“Independent surveys show that 93 percent of Nigerians believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. Eighty-eight percent describe the national economy as bad, while 74 percent say their personal living conditions are poor. These are not opposition talking points; they are the views of Nigerians themselves, APC members included.
“The APC also insists that the hardship Nigerians are experiencing is transient. But the numbers tell a different story. Recent surveys show that 82 percent of Nigerians report going without enough food at least once in the past year, 82 percent have gone without medical care, 79 percent have gone without cooking fuel, 74 percent have gone without clean water, and 95 percent have gone without a cash income at some point during the year. These figures point not to temporary discomfort but to widespread and deepening economic distress.”
Stressing that the APC was merely celebrating macroeconomic indicators, Nigerians faced the reality of fuel prices rising by nearly 500 percent — from about N255 per litre in May 2023, when President Tinubu assumed office, to around N1,500 per litre in many parts of the country today.
“This is pushing up transport costs and driving food prices beyond the reach of millions of households. The APC claims that the money previously spent on fuel subsidy, roughly N6.4 trillion in savings last year alone, is now being redirected to vital sectors such as healthcare and social development.
“However, it is on record that only N36 million, just about 0.02 percent of the capital budget, was actually released for capital projects in 2025 for Nigeria’s entire federal healthcare sector. Nigerians are therefore left to ask a simple question: if the subsidy savings are truly being redirected to critical sectors, where exactly is all the money going? Why are local contractors not paid? Why are the universities still poorly equipped?
“The human cost of Tinubu and the APC’s policies is even more evident in the food and agriculture sector. Latest reports indicate that out of more than 150 rice mills across Nigeria, nearly 90 have shut down operations, while the remaining mills are operating at between 30 and 70 percent of their installed capacity, largely because the Tinubu administration’s policies have encouraged import dependency.
“Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that Nigeria’s food import bill has jumped from N3.83 trillion in 2023, when President Tinubu came into office, to N7.65 trillion today, an increase of N3.82 trillion, or about 100 percent. This shows that instead of strengthening our local agricultural sector and protecting Nigerian farmers, the policies of the APC government are undermining domestic production and putting thousands of Nigerian farmers and processors out of business.”
The party concluded that economic reforms should be judged by their results, noting that the rise in poverty from 50 to 63 percent, widespread dissatisfaction with the country’s direction, and the struggle of millions to afford basic needs indicate serious policy failures.
“Nigerians do not expect economic lectures or political attacks on the opposition. They expect policies that make their lives better.
“The APC may dismiss these concerns, but Nigerians cannot dismiss the realities of the APC’s failures that they confront every day. Until the APC-led Tinubu government begins to measure success by the well-being of its citizens, the gap between official claims and the lived reality of Nigerians will only continue to widen.”
President Bola Tinubu on Friday, told Nigerians to take a look at the situation in neighbouring countries to ascertain what true suffering really means, insisting that he has made the country better for everybody.
The President, who spoke against the backdrop of the massive groaning in the country, was particular about the hardship occasioned by the cost of petroleum products, made so by the conflict in the Middle East, where Iran is facing attacks from Israel and the United States.
Urging for patience among the people, Tinubu, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he inaugurated some projects, said: “I hear you from various angles of the economy. The fuel price is biting hard, but look around, let’s just thank God together that you are better off
“Listen to them in Kenya, in other African countries, what they are going through. We will not look back. We will continue to find ways to ameliorate the suffering of the vulnerable. This is a government that cares.
“I am glad the Head of Service is here. Look at the numbers with the finance, economic planning, and budgeting, and we will see what we can do to ease the burden.
“But that is the development; the burden of it is what we are facing today. The challenge of the war we didn’t call for, but the effect of the interrelated world that we share. Both the joy and pain of it are universal.”
The President’s position came on the heels of another sharp rise in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), now put at close to N1, 400 per litre from the about N870 before the hostilities in the Iran, which led to major difficulties in the operation of global oil industry.
The situation was particularly worsened by the decision of Iran to restrict the movement of vessels carrying crude through the strait of Houmous, a major transit hob for the commodity to various parts of the world.
Nafiu Bala Gombe, the man on whose behalf the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is currently in a prostrate state, has admitted to getting outside help in prosecuting his legal matters against the David Mark camp.
Recall that Mark, former Senate President and Rauf Aregbesola were, last week, derecognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and had their names struck out based on the case filed by Gombe on September 2, 2025.
The commission had relied on the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, which ordered parties in the case to maintain status quo ante bellum, which it interpreted to mean that it should not deal with either side.
Against the backdrop of the dust the matter had raised across the country, the embattled ADC leadership, had accused the former Deputy Chairman of being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to play the spoiler role to enable President Bola Tinubu have no challenge in the 2027 presidential election.
Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the Mark camp, had last week, stated this much when he wondered how Gombe, who on his own could not afford an ordinary lawyer, going by his financial status, would now be hiring more than three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to represent him, which would probably run into tens of millions of naira.
Reacting on Tuesday, Gombe admitted getting outside help, but added that such assistance was not coming from government quarters or the APC, but from public-spirited individuals and Nigerians averse to the injustice being meted out to him.
Abimuku Monday, spokesman to Gombe, who spoke during an appearance on Morning Briefs, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, told his host: “Before now, they were saying these people are big weights and we’re light weights. Now, we’re suddenly being seen as human beings. Earlier, we were seen as nobodies – as boys who don’t have capacity to challenge this in court.
“They say Nafiu Bala does not even have money to pursue his case. You see, that’s how they reduce people by their own estimation. They don’t find out who people. They have forgotten that for you to seek legal actions, there are so many ways to go about it.
“It is either you use your own money or your personal relationship with people. Does it mean that somebody in politics cannot have his own friends or cannot have lawyers as his friend or cannot have other members of the society as his friends.
“These are not members of the APC. They don’t belong to any party. They’re citizens of this country, who mean well for Nigeria. Nobody is scuttling the coalition. The fact remains that if you have a challenge, people will rally around you knowing it’s a good cause you’re fighting. People will rally around you to give you the necessary support that you need. They even called my principal a small boy.”
Serah Luca, a Christian woman, has returned N1 million she unknowingly took along with goods purchased from a trader at Terminus market in Jos, Plateau state capital.
Luca, a petty trader, reportedly said she made the purchase on Friday and only discovered the hidden cash after getting home.
She said her decision to return the money was driven by fear of God and her belief that she could not keep what did not belong to her, especially knowing the hardship that comes with losing money in business.
“I am a petty businesswoman. I know what it means to suffer loss. If I put that kind of money into my business, I believe God would punish me,” Daily Trust quoted her as saying.
The trader, Abubakar Dola, who deals in polythene bags at Terminus market, expressed surprise at the woman’s honesty, noting that he had no idea where the money went after mistakenly placing it inside the bag she bought.
Dola said he had planned to transfer the cash through a point of sales (POS) operator but became worried when he could not see the polythene bag where the money was kept.
“I mistakenly included it in what she bought. I didn’t realise until days later, and I had already given up hope. For her to return it after three days is remarkable. I pray Allah rewards her and gives us more people like her.”
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