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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of diverting attention from Nigeria’s worsening economic and security challenges by focusing its attacks on the opposition’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party alleged that the APC had become more interested in criticising Atiku than addressing rising poverty, insecurity and the soaring cost of living confronting Nigerians.
According to the ADC, the ruling party seized on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s comments about Atiku while ignoring concerns raised by Catholic Bishops over the country’s deteriorating socio-economic conditions.
“Unable to defend its catastrophic record after the Catholic Bishops laid bare the true state of the nation during their recent meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC has shamelessly seized on comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a desperate attempt to shift the national conversation and attention from its terrible performance in the last three years,” the statement read.
The opposition party argued that rather than responding to criticisms over worsening hardship, the APC had resorted to attacking those who speak out against the administration.
“The result is a government that spends more time arguing with its critics than answering the concerns of ordinary Nigerians. What Nigerians have not heard is a convincing explanation for why life has become so much harder under Tinubu and his APC,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC maintained that Atiku’s record as vice president under the Obasanjo administration remained one of stronger economic growth, macroeconomic stability and improved investor confidence, insisting that such achievements could not be erased by political disagreements.
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Meanwhile, Atiku also faulted the Presidency’s defence of President Tinubu’s economic performance, describing it as an attempt to replace results with propaganda.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said no amount of statistical data could conceal the hardship Nigerians continue to experience.
“If the economy is doing so well, why are Nigerians getting poorer?” Atiku queried, arguing that government claims of economic progress had failed to translate into improved living standards.
He cited rising poverty, factory closures, high food prices, unemployment and worsening insecurity as evidence that the administration’s policies had failed to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
Atiku further insisted that governments should be judged by the impact of their policies on citizens rather than by favourable macroeconomic indicators, saying, “Nigerians cannot eat GDP. They cannot cook with debt-to-GDP ratios. They cannot pay school fees with statistical projections.”
The exchange marks the latest war of words between the APC and the opposition as political parties intensify their campaigns ahead of the 2027 general election.
