Independence: Tinubu’s reforms lack human face, says Atiku

African Democratic Congress(ADC) presidential candidate, for the 2027 general election, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday took a swipe at President Bola Tinubu, saying that reforms embarked by the current administration, since its inception in 2023, were reckless and lacked human face.

Atiku, a former Vice President, stated this in an Independence Day Address, said after sixty-six years of independence, Nigerians are fighting to put food on their table, a living wage, security, as well as other things that should be within the immediate reach of citizens of a free country.

The former Vice President noted that President Tinubu, in a single announcement on May 29,2023, brought an end to the fuel subsidy regime with an assurance that the savings from the policy would be deployed to the benefits of Nigerians. He stated that while the removal of petrol subsidy instantly resulted in the rise in the pump price of fuel, cost of transportation and a cost-of-living crisis, the promised benefits are yet to be seen, three years after.

According to him, “Sixty-six years after independence, millions of Nigerians are fighting for things a free country should never put beyond their reach: food on the table, a wage that lasts the month, and a safe journey home. The past three years under Bola Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history. Families are not merely tightening their belts. They are skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday.

“And what has this government asked of them? More patience. More sacrifice. More faith in figures they cannot eat. While Nigerians are lectured about hardship, those in power preside over brazen waste, corruption and a budget process that makes a mockery of fiscal discipline. The people are told there is no money to ease their pain, yet government always seems to find money for its own appetites.

“Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy with one announcement and no credible protection in place for the families who would bear the shock. Petrol, transport and the cost of moving food rose. He promised that the savings would benefit Nigerians. Three years later, the pain has an address in every home. Bola, where is the benefit?”

Atiku, while reacting to President Tinubu’s Independence Day Broadcast,  stated that while the President told the country that the “emergency treatment is over” and the “age of prosperity” has begun, such declaration does not translate to food for families or money in the pocket of workers.

He noted that while President Tinubu 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.”

The ADC candidate, while addressing President Tinubu pointedly, said “ 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?

“You say Nigerians must endure the pain because you are curing the disease. But when a patient cries out, a doctor listens. He does not call the patient “regressive” for asking when he will get better. He does not point to the hospital’s rising revenue and declare him healed. A patient who cannot afford to live is not proof that the treatment is working.

“Your party had governed Nigeria for eight years. If the country was as sick as you say, tell Nigerians what responsibility your party bears for its condition.

“Let us bring this argument down from the podium to the places where Nigerians make their daily choices: the filling station, the market stall and the breakfast table. In April 2023, a ₦30,000 minimum wage could buy about 118 litres of petrol. Today, a ₦70,000 minimum wage buys just 50 litres. The salary has more than doubled on paper; the petrol it can buy has fallen by more than half.”