Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu’s declaration that Nigeria has entered an “age of prosperity”, arguing that millions of Nigerians are still struggling to afford basic necessities.
Atiku spoke on Thursday in Abuja in an Independence Day address to mark Nigeria’s 66th anniversary, hours after Tinubu told Nigerians that the country had moved beyond the difficult phase of economic reforms and was entering a period of “shared and widespread prosperity.”
While Tinubu said his administration’s reforms had corrected Nigeria’s economic course, citing economic growth, lower inflation, improved foreign reserves, exchange-rate stability and stronger non-oil exports, Atiku argued that such indicators had yet to translate into meaningful relief for ordinary Nigerians.
“Bola, where is this prosperity?” Atiku asked, challenging the President to reconcile his assessment of the economy with the difficulties Nigerians face in meeting the cost of food, transportation, healthcare and other necessities.
According to the former vice president, Nigerians are “not merely tightening their belts” but are skipping meals, delaying medical treatment and borrowing to survive until payday.
He accused the Tinubu administration of presiding over a severe cost-of-living crisis while asking Nigerians to endure further hardship in the expectation that the government’s reforms would eventually deliver results.
Tinubu, in his Independence Day address, acknowledged that the reforms had brought significant hardship but maintained that they were necessary to correct longstanding weaknesses in the economy.
“The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired,” the President said, declaring that the government’s central economic task had now shifted from correcting the country’s course to delivering “shared and widespread prosperity.”
But Atiku disputed the President’s assessment, arguing that a fall in the rate of inflation does not mean that Nigerians have recovered the purchasing power lost during the period of rapidly rising prices.
“Bola says inflation has fallen. A slower rise in prices does not restore what families have lost,” he said.
He also questioned the emphasis placed by the administration on economic growth and rising exports, arguing that growth should ultimately be reflected in the living conditions of citizens.
“Growth must improve lives,” Atiku said.
The ADC candidate also attacked the government’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy in 2023, arguing that the policy was implemented without adequate protection for households against its immediate effects.
He said the removal contributed to increases in petrol, transportation and food distribution costs, and challenged the President over what he described as the failure of the promised benefits of the policy to reach ordinary Nigerians.
“Three years later, the pain has an address in every home. Bola, where is the benefit?” he asked.
Atiku extended his criticism beyond the economy, arguing that insecurity remained another major test of the administration’s performance.
He cited attacks by armed groups, displacement of communities, threats to farmers, insecurity around schools and ransom kidnappings as evidence of the continuing security crisis.
“A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people,” he said.
The former vice president also challenged Tinubu’s description of Nigeria’s economic difficulties as a disease requiring painful treatment.
Tinubu had said his administration had chosen to “excise the cancer” afflicting the economy, arguing that the reforms that followed were difficult but necessary.
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Atiku countered that the experience of ordinary Nigerians should be the ultimate measure of whether the treatment is working.
“You cannot speak as though you arrived from the moon in 2023,” he said, pointing to the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC), to which Tinubu belongs, had governed Nigeria for eight years before his administration came into office.
He therefore challenged the President to acknowledge the responsibility of the ruling party for the economic conditions it inherited.
Atiku further sought to illustrate the impact of inflation and rising living costs by comparing the purchasing power of the minimum wage with the cost of petrol.
He argued that while the minimum wage had risen from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000, the purchasing power of the salary in terms of petrol had fallen substantially.
The former vice president nevertheless urged Nigerians not to surrender to despair, saying the country could still recover from its present difficulties.
“Despair is not a strategy,” he said, while presenting the 2027 general election as an opportunity for Nigerians to determine the direction of the country.
Atiku’s address sets up a sharp political contest over the interpretation of Nigeria’s economic situation ahead of the 2027 elections.
While the Tinubu administration says its reforms have stabilised the economy and created the foundation for prosperity, Atiku argues that the decisive measure is not macroeconomic statistics but whether Nigerians can afford food, transport, healthcare and other basic needs.
The disagreement places the experience of ordinary households at the centre of the emerging political debate over Nigeria’s economic future.