ADC denies inciting Nigerians, says Tinubu’s govt increased fuel price by 500%

The leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has denied the claim by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that it is inciting Nigerians against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The ADC in a statement issued on Sunday by Bola Abdullahi, its national publicity secretary said the coalition party is only speaking up for citizens who have been plunged into abject penury since Tinubu assumed office in 2023.

Abdullahi insisted that the data available shows that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 per cent, up from about 50 per cent before the removal of the petrol subsidy.

He stated that the report showing that 93 per cent of Nigerians believe the country is heading towards the wrong direction is not opposition talking points, but publicly available reports that highlight the human cost of the administration’s economic policies.

He further noted that these data reflect the views of ordinary Nigerians who are living in hell under the APC government.

The party also said that rather than address the clear evidence on the ground, the ruling party has chosen to attack the opposition and dismiss the lived realities of millions of citizens. Facts, however, cannot be dismissed by press statements.

“The APC speaks proudly of macroeconomic indicators, but Nigerians live in a real economy where fuel prices have surged by almost 500 per cent, from about N255 per litre in May 2023 when Tinubu came into office, to around N1,500 per litre today in many parts of this country. This is pushing up transport costs and driving food prices beyond the reach of millions of households.

“The APC claims that the money previously spent on fuel subsidy, which should amount to roughly N6.4 trillion in savings last year alone, is now being redirected to “vital sectors” such as healthcare and social development,” Abdullahi said.

Further quoting data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Abdullahi said  Nigeria’s food import bill has jumped from N3.83 trillion in 2023, when President Tinubu came into office, to N7.65 trillion today, an increase of N3.82 trillion, or about 100 per cent.

He said this shows that instead of strengthening our local agricultural sector and protecting Nigerian farmers, the policies of the Tinubu administration is undermining domestic production and putting thousands of Nigerian farmers and processors out of business.

“Nigerians do not expect economic lectures or political attacks on the opposition. They expect policies that make their lives better. The APC may dismiss these concerns, but Nigerians cannot dismiss the realities of the APC’s failures that they confront every day.

“Until the APC-led Tinubu government begins to measure success by the well-being of its citizens, the gap between official claims and the lived reality of Nigerians will only continue to widen,” he added.