Atiku challenges Tinubu’s prosperity claim, laments rising hardship - Punch Newspapers

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress and former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day address, saying Nigerians cannot eat economic growth figures while millions continue to struggle with rising living costs. Atiku, in his Independence Day address on Thursday, said the past three years of the Tinubu administration had plunged Nigerians into what he described as the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis, with families struggling to afford food, healthcare, transportation and other basic necessities. Tinubu, while addressing Nigerians to commemorate the 2026 Independence Anniversary, on Thursday, said that after three and a half years in office, there was undeniable evidence that Nigeria’s economic outlook had improved. He said, “Our economy has grown by over four per cent this year. Both the oil and non-oil sectors have contributed to this renewed period of stable growth. “My fellow Nigerians, we have reached a turning point. The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed. For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course. “Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.” Reacting, ADC presidential candidate challenged the President’s claim that Nigeria had entered an age of prosperity, asking where the prosperity was when Nigerians could barely afford to survive. Atiku also faulted the government’s handling of fuel subsidy removal, taxation and other economic reforms, arguing that their impact had further increased the burden on households and businesses. The former Vice-President stated, “And beyond the market, our nation is bleeding. Armed groups have killed thousands and driven families from their communities. Farmers fear their fields. Parents fear for children in their classrooms. Families dread the call demanding ransom for someone they love. “A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people. “This is not the Nigeria our founders struggled to set free. But I will not ask you to surrender to despair. Despair is not a strategy. We have a path to recovery, and we must take it. “Bola, where is this prosperity? Bola says inflation has fallen. A slower rise in prices does not restore what families have lost. He cites growth and rising exports. Nigerian businesses deserve credit for what they have achieved. But growth must improve lives. It cannot be a certificate of success that government awards itself while citizens struggle to survive.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google “Bola, 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?” Atiku said Nigerians could not be expected to endure prolonged hardship simply because the government described its economic policies as a cure for the country’s problems. He challenged the Tinubu administration to account for the APC’s eight years in power, while pointing to rising fuel and food prices as evidence of the economic pressure facing Nigerians. Atiku also questioned the benefits of fuel subsidy removal, saying Nigerians were more interested in knowing when the promised savings would translate into lower living costs. He continued, “My fellow Nigerians, I will not ask you to accept another promise without asking how it would work. Working with my running mate and our partners in the African Democratic Congress, I will pursue a clear purpose: make life affordable again. “We will introduce a capped, budgeted production subsidy tied to verified fuel refined in Nigeria, including fuel from modular refineries. Imported petrol will not qualify. The benefit must reach consumers through lower pump prices. We will publish the costs, independently audit the payments and cut government waste to help fund the programme. “The principle is simple: produce here, refine here, create jobs here and pay less here. If Bola disagrees, he should answer the proposal on its merits. Calling relief an addiction will not lower the price of petrol. “Bola, your speech is full of ‘we will.’ We will make farming cheaper. We will power factories. We will create jobs. We will bring down prices. You have been President for more than three years. Nigerians are entitled to ask what you have done with the time already given to you.” Atiku said the government’s promise that lower production costs would eventually reduce prices offered little comfort to farmers and manufacturers currently struggling with insecurity, high electricity costs and other challenges that make production expensive. He also questioned the impact of government loan programmes, saying young Nigerians need decent-paying jobs while students and workers should not be burdened with loans to cope with rising education costs and living expenses. Atiku urged the government to explain what the programmes had delivered, who benefited and what beneficiaries were expected to repay. The ADC presidential candidate stated, “The confusion extends to your budgets. You have just signed an extension keeping the 2025 budget in operation until the last day of 2026. “The 2026 budget exists alongside it. Soon, your government will ask Nigerians to examine a 2027 budget. How many budgets must be open at once before you can tell the country what was funded, what was completed and what remains unpaid? A budget should be a timetable for delivery, not a ball passed from one year to the next. “Bola says his government 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 what little they earn. “In communities under attack, people fear for their lives. A government cannot claim a human face while making it harder for Nigerians to eat, learn, seek treatment and stay alive.” Atiku pledged that, if elected, his administration would prioritise affordability and the protection of lives, with measures to reduce the cost of food, fuel and electricity, improve access to healthcare and education, restore security, ensure accountability in public spending and assess progress based on Nigerians’ living conditions and safety. He added, “Bola, you have put the weight of Nigeria’s economic well-being on a skateboard. Families are struggling to keep their balance, businesses are falling, and you stand in Aso Rock declaring that the journey to prosperity is going smoothly. “In your Independence Day speech, you found time to attack my plan to make life affordable. But you did not tell commuters which additional routes became cheaper today, what the fares were before, what they cost now, or how many people can use them. Lower fares on a few routes are welcome, but they do not solve the transport crisis facing the rest of the country. “Bola, was this a Yahoo Yahoo promise or a hurried reply to my production subsidy proposal? You advertised cheaper transport from October 1. Today is October 1, and commuters are still asking where they can find the lower fares. Show them the routes and the prices. Nigerians cannot board an announcement. “Bola, publish the routes, the fares and the number of people benefiting. Show Nigerians the cheaper journey you promised.” Atiku said economic recovery should be reflected in improved living conditions, urging the government to account for the savings from its policies and show Nigerians tangible relief from hardship. He also noted that independence requires political freedom, stressing that Nigerians must be allowed to question their leaders, organise peacefully and demand change, while calling for the rule of law to be applied fairly. The former Vice-President called for due process in the cases of Sheikh Sani Khalifa Zaria, former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai and Nnamdi Kanu, and renewed his call for the release of five young Nigerians arrested in Borno over “Tinubu Must Go” T-shirts, saying political slogans should not be grounds for imprisonment. He stated, “We have looked back. We have counted what fuel costs, what food costs and what a wage can still buy. We have seen families waiting for relief while government asks for more patience. We have heard promises of prosperity from a President who cannot show millions of Nigerians where to find it. “Our founders did not win sovereignty so that a few could prosper while millions merely survive. “Their promise lives in ordinary hopes: a meal a family can afford, a safe road home, a child free to learn, and work that offers a path to a better life. Those hopes are neither extravagant nor beyond Nigeria’s reach. “Bola, the Promised Land is not in sight merely because you can see it from the villa. Nigerians must be able to reach it. We have chosen a different course, peacefully and together, through the power of our votes; the message is clear: Tinubu must go.” Abdulrahman Zakariyau Abdulrahman is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with nearly a decade of professional experience covering political parties, elections, religion, civil society organizations, and the Nigeria Governors Forum. He is also a development and strategic communication expert, skilled at analyzing complex issues and delivering impactful narratives. Abdulrahman’s reporting reflects extensive newsroom experience, editorial judgment, and a strong commitment to informative and insightful journalism.

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