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The presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 general election, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, took a swipe at President Bola Tinubu, saying that his administration’s reforms since its inception in 2023, had been reckless and lacked human face.
In his Independence Day address, Atiku said after 66 years of independence, Nigerians are fighting to put food on their table, a living wage and security, as well as other things that should be within the immediate reach of citizens of a free country.
He noted that President Tinubu, in a single announcement on May 29,2023, brought an end to the fuel subsidy regime with an assurance that the savings from the policy would be deployed to the benefits of Nigerians. He stated that while the removal of petrol subsidy instantly resulted in the fuel price hike, leading to high cost of transportation and a cost-of-living crisis, the promised benefits are yet to be seen, three years after.
According to him, while the President said his reforms, “have a human face. Nigerians have spent three years looking for that face in the market, at the hospital and on the road to work. What they have found is deepening poverty, healthcare they cannot afford, school fees they struggle to pay, food beyond their reach and electricity bills that consume whatever little they earn. In communities under attack, people fear for their lives. A government that cannot claim a human face while making it harder for Nigerians to eat, learn, seek treatment and stay alive.”
He said: “Sixty-six years after independence, millions of Nigerians are fighting for things a free country should never put beyond their reach, such as food on the table, a wage that lasts the month and a safe journey home. The past three years under Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history. Families are not merely tightening their belts. They are skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday.
“And what has this government asked of them? More patience. More sacrifice. More faith in figures they cannot eat. While Nigerians are lectured about hardship, those in power preside over brazen waste, corruption and a budget process that makes a mockery of fiscal discipline. The people are told there is no money to ease their pain, yet the government always seems to find money for its own appetites.
“Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy with one announcement and no credible protection in place for the families who would bear the shock. Petrol, transport and the cost of moving food rose. He promised that the savings would benefit Nigerians. Three years later, the pain has an address in every home. Bola, where is the benefit?” Atiku, while reacting to President Tinubu’s Independence Day broadcast, stated that while the President told the country that the “emergency treatment is over” and the “age of prosperity” has begun, such declaration does not translate to food for families or money in the pocket of workers.
The ADC candidate, while addressing Tinubu, pointedly said: “You call Nigeria a patient with cancer. After three years of your treatment, why is it harder for Nigerians to buy food, pay for medicine or even get to work? Why does your government have more money while the people can afford less?
“You say Nigerians must endure the pain because you are curing the disease. But when a patient cries out, a doctor listens. He doesn’t call the patient ‘regressive’ for asking when he will get better. He does not point to the hospital’s rising revenue and declare him healed. A patient who cannot afford to live is not proof that the treatment is working. Your party had governed Nigeria for eight years. If the country was as sick as you say, tell Nigerians what responsibility your party bears for its condition.”
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He added: “In April 2023, a N30,000 minimum wage could buy about 118 litres of petrol. Today, a N70,000 minimum wage buys just 50 litres. The salary has more than doubled on paper; the petrol it can buy has fallen by more than half.
“The average price of an egg rose from about N88 in April 2023 to N261 in May 2026. A sliced loaf of bread was about N500 in April 2023; by May 2026, the average was about N2,000 for a smaller loaf. These may look like small items in a government report. In a family home, they are breakfast; they are the money left for a child’s lunch. If 2023 was the illness, why does your ‘cure’ buy less fuel, fewer eggs and a smaller loaf of bread?”
Besides, the former Vice President noted that “Nigeria’s public debt stood at N166.79 trillion at the end of June, and your government is now discussing another $1.5 billion in World Bank loans. Before you borrow another dollar in the people’s name, tell them what the money already borrowed has delivered. Name the projects. Show what they cost, who benefited and who was paid.
“Then there is your party chairman’s claim that more than 10 million Nigerians received N75,000 each in cash transfers, at least N750 billion in all. Professor Yilwatda said many beneficiaries have no phones. So, how did your government identify, contact and pay them, particularly in parts of Yobe and Borno where insecurity makes access difficult? Did officials deliver the money by hand? If so, who delivered it and where are the receipts? If it went into bank accounts, show the transaction records. Nigerians are not asking you to expose poor families. They are asking for an auditable account of how the money reached them. If you could find 10 million people to pay, you can account for the payments.”
Furthermore, Atiku, while stating that Independence demands political freedom, said Nigerians must be free to question their leaders, organise peacefully and demand for change. He called for fair application of rule of law in every way, stating that “the continued detention of Sheikh Sani Khalifa Zaria and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai raises questions about due process that the authorities must answer. Following Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s conviction, his right to lawful appeal must be respected, while the grievances and divisions surrounding his case must be addressed seriously.
“I also repeat my call for the release of the five young Nigerians arrested in Borno for wearing “Tinubu Must Go” T-shirts. The police have made further allegations against them; those allegations must be tested fairly. A political slogan on a shirt must never become a reason to imprison a Nigerian.”
The ADC candidate added that the 2027 general election offers Nigerians an opportunity to choose the course of the country, promising that if elected President, he would work to end election rigging, as well as respect the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while anyone caught engaging in vote buying or changing election result would face the consequences.
He promised that from his first day in office as President, he will “put affordability and the protection of life at the centre of government,” as well as begin bringing down the costs of food, fuel and power, improve access to healthcare and education and restore security to communities and account for public spending.
