The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day speech, arguing that Nigerians cannot live on economic growth statistics while millions still battle soaring living costs.
In his own Independence Day address on Thursday, Atiku stated that the Tinubu administration’s first three years had driven Nigerians into what he called the nation’s most severe cost-of-living crisis, leaving families unable to afford food, healthcare, transportation, and other basic needs.
Speaking to Nigerians on Thursday to mark the 2026 Independence Anniversary, Tinubu said that after three and a half years in office, there was undeniable proof that Nigeria’s economic prospects had gotten better.
He said, “Our economy has grown by over four percent this year. Both the oil and non-oil sectors have contributed to this renewed period of stable growth.
“My fellow Nigerians, we have reached a turning point. The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed. For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course.
“Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.”
In response, the ADC presidential candidate disputed the president’s assertion that Nigeria had entered an era of prosperity, asking where that prosperity was when Nigerians could hardly afford to survive.
Atiku also criticized the government’s approach to removing fuel subsidies, taxation, and other economic reforms, contending that their effects had only added to the strain on households and businesses.
The former vice president stated, “And beyond the market, our nation is bleeding. Armed groups have killed thousands and driven families from their communities. Farmers fear their fields. Parents fear for children in their classrooms. Families dread the call demanding ransom for someone they love.
“A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people.
“This is not the Nigeria our founders struggled to set free. But I will not ask you to surrender to despair. Despair is not a strategy. We have a path to recovery, and we must take it.
“Bola, where is this prosperity? Bola 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 the government awards itself while citizens struggle to survive.
“Bola, 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?”
Atiku remarked that Nigerians should not be expected to bear hardship for an extended period just because the government labeled its economic policies as the remedy for the nation’s difficulties.
He called on the Tinubu administration to give an account of the APC’s eight years in office, citing soaring fuel and food prices as proof of the economic strain Nigerians are enduring.
Atiku further asked what gains have come from removing the fuel subsidy, noting that Nigerians are more concerned with learning when the promised savings will actually bring down the cost of living.
He continued, “My fellow Nigerians, I will not ask you to accept another promise without asking how it would work. Working with my running mate and our partners in the African Democratic Congress, I will pursue a clear purpose: make life affordable again.
“We will introduce a capped, budgeted production subsidy tied to verified fuel refined in Nigeria, including fuel from modular refineries. Imported petrol will not qualify. The benefit must reach consumers through lower pump prices. We will publish the costs, independently audit the payments, and cut government waste to help fund the program.
“The principle is simple: produce here, refine here, create jobs here, and pay less here. If Bola disagrees, he should answer the proposal on its merits. Calling relief an addiction will not lower the price of petrol.
“Bola, your speech is full of ‘we will.’ We will make farming cheaper. We will power factories. We will create jobs. We will bring down prices. You have been president for more than three years. Nigerians are entitled to ask what you have done with the time already given to you.”
Atiku stated that the government’s assurance that reduced production costs would ultimately bring down prices provided scant relief to farmers and manufacturers who are currently grappling with insecurity, expensive electricity, and other difficulties that drive up production costs.
He further questioned how effective government loan schemes have been, noting that young Nigerians require well-paying jobs and that students and workers should not be forced to take on loans to manage growing education costs and living expenses.
Atiku called on the government to clarify what these programs have achieved, who has benefited from them, and what those beneficiaries are required to repay.
The ADC presidential candidate stated, “The confusion extends to your budgets. You have just signed an extension keeping the 2025 budget in operation until the last day of 2026.
“The 2026 budget exists alongside it. Soon, your government will ask Nigerians to examine a 2027 budget. How many budgets must be open at once before you can tell the country what was funded, what was completed, and what remains unpaid? A budget should be a timetable for delivery, not a ball passed from one year to the next.
“Bola says his government reforms have a human face. Nigerians have spent three years looking for that face in the market, at the hospital, and on the road to work. What they have found is deepening poverty, healthcare they cannot afford, school fees they struggle to pay, food beyond their reach, and electricity bills that consume what little they earn.
“In communities under attack, people fear for their lives. A government cannot claim a human face while making it harder for Nigerians to eat, learn, seek treatment, and stay alive.”
Atiku promised that, should he be elected, his government would put affordability and the safeguarding of lives first, taking steps to lower the costs of food, fuel, and electricity; enhance access to healthcare and education; bring back security; guarantee accountability in public spending; and measure progress by Nigerians’ living conditions and safety.
He added, “Bola, you have put the weight of Nigeria’s economic well-being on a skateboard. Families are struggling to keep their balance, businesses are falling, and you stand in Aso Rock declaring that the journey to prosperity is going smoothly.
“In your Independence Day speech, you found time to attack my plan to make life affordable. But you did not tell commuters which additional routes became cheaper today, what the fares were before, what they cost now, or how many people can use them. Lower fares on a few routes are welcome, but they do not solve the transport crisis facing the rest of the country.
“Bola, was this a Yahoo Yahoo promise or a hurried reply to my production subsidy proposal? You advertised cheaper transport from October 1. Today is October 1, and commuters are still asking where they can find the lower fares. Show them the routes and the prices. Nigerians cannot board an announcement.
“Bola, publish the routes, the fares, and the number of people benefiting. Show Nigerians the cheaper journey you promised.”
Atiku stated that economic recovery ought to show up in better living conditions, and he pressed the government to explain how its policies have generated savings and to deliver visible relief from hardship for Nigerians.
He further observed that independence demands political freedom, emphasizing that Nigerians should be free to question their leaders, gather peacefully, and call for change, while also urging that the rule of law be enforced impartially.
The former vice-president urged that due process be followed in the cases of Sheikh Sani Khalifa Zaria, ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and Nnamdi Kanu, and he repeated his demand for the release of five young Nigerians detained in Borno over “Tinubu Must Go” T-shirts, arguing that political slogans should never be a reason for imprisonment.
He stated, “We have looked back. We have counted what fuel costs, what food costs, and what a wage can still buy. We have seen families waiting for relief while the government asks for more patience. We have heard promises of prosperity from a president who cannot show millions of Nigerians where to find it.
“Our founders did not win sovereignty so that a few could prosper while millions merely survive.
“Their promise lives in ordinary hopes: a meal a family can afford, a safe road home, a child free to learn, and work that offers a path to a better life. Those hopes are neither extravagant nor beyond Nigeria’s reach.
“Bola, the Promised Land is not in sight merely because you can see it from the villa. Nigerians must be able to reach it. We have chosen a different course, peacefully and together, through the power of our votes; the message is clear: Tinubu must go.”
