JUST IN: ADC blames Tinubu’s subsidy removal for rise in poverty

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says reports indicating that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 percent following the removal of petrol subsidy reflect the economic performance of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The opposition party said the figure highlights the impact of rising fuel and transport costs on the cost of living across the country.

In a statement on Thursday, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the ADC, said the report reflects the worsening economic hardship facing many Nigerians.

Abdullahi said the development is a consequence of what he described as “ill-defined neoliberal economic policies”.

He said: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) considers latest report showing that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63% following the removal of petrol subsidy by President Tinubu three years ago as a damning verdict on the administration’s economic policies.

“Yet, this report only confirms what millions of Nigerians already know from their daily experience: the cost of living is rising rapidly, purchasing power is collapsing, and families across the country are being pushed deeper into hardship.”

Abdullahi said higher fuel and transport costs had contributed to rising prices of food and other basic necessities.

He said: “This verdict reflects the real consequences of the APC government’s hasty removal of fuel subsidy without giving full consideration to how such a serious decision would impact on the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.”

Abdullahi said the federal government had justified the removal of the subsidy as a measure to redirect funds to critical sectors.

He, however, said the expected improvements in sectors such as health and education have not materialised.

Abdullahi said: “Government has repeatedly justified the removal of subsidy on the need to divert resources to areas of critical needs, including health and education.

“Three years on, none of these sectors has been funded any better, and citizens have not seen the benefits of subsidy removal..

“Independent surveys already show that 93 percent of Nigerians believe that under President Tinubu, the country is heading in the wrong direction.

“Even as 88 percent describe the national economy as bad, while another 74 percent say their personal living conditions are poor.

“These are not abstract statistics, they are the voices of a population under intense economic pressure.”

The ADC spokesperson said many Nigerians are facing deprivation of basic needs, adding that a large number of households reported going without food, clean water, medical care, cooking fuel and cash income at different times over the past year.

Abdullahi said the hardship reflects policy choices that prioritise external validation over citizens’ welfare.

He said: “This is what happens when government is more concerned with external validation than the well-being of its own people.

“The African Democratic Congress believes that the standard measure of any economic policy is whether it has made life better for the majority of citizens and protected the most vulnerable. On this score, the APC government has failed.”