Nigeria’s 63% poverty rate evidence of Tinubu’s bad economic policies – ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has reacted to a recent report that poverty rate in Nigeria has risen to 63 per cent after he removal of subsidy on petrol, saying the figure is a reflection of the government ill-conceived economic policies.

The party stated this in a release issued y its spokesman, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi.

“This verdict reflects the real consequences of the APC (All Progressives Congress) 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,” he said.

Abdullahi said the government has continued to justify the removal of subsidy on the need to divert resources to areas of critical needs, including health and education.

However, he said after three years, there have been no positive effects of the subsidy withdrawal because “none of these sectors has been funded any better, and citizens have not seen the benefits of subsidy removal.

The statement reads: “The African Democratic Congress 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.

“The report, presented at a policy dialogue in Abuja Thursday indicated that poverty in Nigeria rose sharply from about 50 per cent before the subsidy removal to 63 per cent afterward, as higher fuel and transport costs spread through the economy and drove up the prices of food, transportation, and other basic necessities.

“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.

“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.

“There is also mounting evidence of widespread deprivation. A large majority of Nigerians report going without basic necessities such as food, clean water, medical care, cooking fuel, and even cash income at different times during the past year.

“For millions of households, economic hardship is no longer a temporary difficulty, it has become daily reality. This is what happens when government is more concerned with external validation than the well-being of its own people.”