ADC slams Tinubu over GDP, says hunger can’t be rebased

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Bola Tinubu administration for celebrating the recent rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), describing it as a misleading public relations stunt that masks the harsh economic realities facing Nigerians.

In a strongly worded statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC labelled the fanfare around the new GDP figures as “economic cosmetics” that do nothing to address the country’s deepening poverty, food insecurity, and collapsing infrastructure.

“While government officials boast about GDP growth, millions of Nigerians are grappling with soaring food prices, unemployment, and a crumbling economy. Economic progress should be felt at the dining table and in the marketplace—not just in statistics,” the party said.

Abdullahi noted that GDP rebasing is merely a statistical tool meant to reflect structural changes in the economy, but under the APC-led government, it has become a way to distract from poor economic management.

He pointed out that after Nigeria’s GDP was rebased to $509 billion in 2014, the country stood as Africa’s largest economy. A decade later, it has slumped to fourth place with a GDP of $244 billion—behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria—despite the latest rebasing.

“Yes, the nominal GDP in naira has risen to ₦373 trillion, but that figure is largely the result of currency devaluation. Real national wealth has shrunk, and Nigerians’ purchasing power has plummeted. Per capita GDP has fallen from $3,223 in 2014 to just around $1,000 today,” he said.

According to the ADC, the rebasing exercise may improve Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio on paper, but it doesn’t justify more borrowing—especially when over 90% of government revenue is used for debt servicing.

The party accused the administration of using statistical manipulation to mask its failure in key sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, and innovation, which have either stagnated or regressed under its leadership.

“There’s no meaningful rise in industrial output, agricultural productivity, electricity supply, healthcare delivery, or real incomes. Just inflated figures with no real impact. This is deception, not development,” Abdullahi stated.

He warned that the rebasing was being used to reframe a broken economy rather than fix it, noting that the government has failed to address the root causes of the country’s economic woes.

“If rebasing is the government’s answer to everything, perhaps it should also rebase insecurity, rebase the power grid into 24-hour electricity, and rebase the millions of Nigerians suffering from hunger,” he said.

The ADC also faulted the government’s failure to engage the public and economic stakeholders in a transparent discussion about the rebasing process and its implications.

“Instead of transparency, the administration rushed to celebrate the rebased GDP as if it were a campaign victory. But rebasing is not reform. It’s just a new way of counting the same broken system,” the statement added.

Concluding, the party said real economic growth must uplift the people, not just look good on paper.

“This rebasing is not a triumph—it is a verdict. A verdict on a lost decade of squandered opportunities, failed leadership, and broken promises,” the ADC declared.