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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
THE Allied Peoples Movement (APM) Presidential Campaign Organisation has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s claim that Nigeria’s economy has “come out of the dark tunnel,” insisting that worsening poverty, rising living costs, business closures and mounting public debt contradict the President’s assessment of the country’s economic situation.
The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO), in a statement by its Director of Strategic Communication, Richard Ihediwa, said the administration’s economic policies had deepened hardship among Nigerians, alleging that more than 140 million citizens, representing about 63 per cent of the population, were living in poverty.
The organisation was reacting to Tinubu’s remarks during his pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where he expressed optimism about the country’s economic recovery and acknowledged the supremacy of Almighty Allah in determining who holds political power.
It argued that the President’s assessment was disconnected from the economic realities confronting millions of Nigerians, citing unemployment, food insecurity, high fuel prices, declining purchasing power and the difficulties facing businesses.
According to the campaign organisation, Tinubu’s acknowledgement that Almighty Allah gives and withdraws political power was significant, given what it described as growing public demand for a change in leadership.
It said the President’s affirmation in Mecca “that the Almighty Allah gives power and can take from him to whom He wills, comes to Nigerians as an answered prayer,” alleging that Nigerians were increasingly desirous of alternative leadership.
The statement read: “While President Tinubu made his false claims in Mecca, hundreds of businesses are closing on a daily basis in Nigeria due to the adverse effect of his punishing economic policies and harsh taxes. This is just as mass unemployment has become a new normal with over 60 million Nigerians facing acute food insecurity and going to bed on empty stomach with no hope in sight under the Tinubu administration.
“Under President Tinubu’s rule, insecurity continues to fester to the extent that citizens can no longer freely move around the nation to ply their trades, go to their farms and engage in other commercial activities, an ugly situation with attendant negative implications on the economy.
“Despite being an oil producing country, fuel price in Nigeria remains unaffordable at N1,500 to N2,000 per liter in various parts of the country, driving high costs of living, harsh business environment and eroded purchasing power of citizens.
“Today, under President Tinubu’s voodoo economy Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit has hit an estimated $2.3 trillion, with experts stating that the gap would require approximately $100 billion annually over the next 30 years to fix.”
The organisation also criticised the administration’s borrowing programme, alleging that the growing debt burden was placing additional pressure on public finances without corresponding improvements in infrastructure and living standards.
It questioned the justification for further external borrowing, claiming that Nigerians had yet to see sufficient evidence of projects and programmes capable of generating the economic returns needed to service the country’s obligations.
“It is ironic that President Tinubu claims that the economy has come out of the dark tunnel when he is mortgaging the future of the nation with reckless borrowing from foreign creditors with no verifiable investments in projects or programmes and no clear-cut plan to repay the N166.7 trillion debt accumulated under his watch,” the statement added.
MDPCO further accused the President of failing to acknowledge the severity of the economic difficulties facing Nigerians, arguing that his remarks in Mecca should have reflected greater concern about the impact of government policies on households and businesses.
“Nigerians expected President Tinubu to use the sacred precincts of the Holy Ka’abah, to seek genuine contrition before the Almighty Allah, shed the trappings of presidential power and confront the damning record of his administration against the crushing hardship and widespread misery its policies have inflicted on nation.
“The fact that President Tinubu can, in the face of the current economic quagmire, claim that the nation’s economy has come out of the dark tunnel, only goes to confirm that he has come to his wits end and has nothing more to offer as president,” it stated.
The campaign organisation expressed confidence in its preferred presidential aspirant, Seyi Makinde, whom it presented as an alternative to the Tinubu administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It said its proposed Reset agenda would prioritise economic opportunities, affordable living, improved security, quality education, accountable governance and national unity.
The organisation maintained that addressing the country’s economic challenges required policies that would reduce the cost of living, restore business confidence, improve security and translate economic growth into tangible benefits for ordinary Nigerians.
