Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the administration of President Bola Tinubu following a World Bank report indicating that over 60 per cent of Nigerians now live below the poverty line, describing the development as “regression on a monumental scale.”
In a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku attributed the rising poverty rate to what he called poorly conceived economic policies, including the abrupt removal of fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the naira, which he said were implemented without adequate safeguards for ordinary Nigerians.
“This crisis is neither accidental nor unavoidable. It is the direct outcome of poorly conceived and harshly implemented policies,” the statement read.
Atiku noted that the poverty rate has climbed from roughly 40 per cent to over 60 per cent under the current administration, with food prices spiralling, inflation eroding incomes, and small businesses collapsing across the country.
He accused the Tinubu administration of prioritising abstract macroeconomic indicators while millions of Nigerians face hunger and economic uncertainty, adding that even the World Bank had acknowledged the paradox of rising poverty amid ongoing reforms.
The former vice president, who is also the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), presented himself as a credible alternative, promising an economic approach built on carefully sequenced reforms, targeted social protection, job creation, food security, and coordinated fiscal and monetary policy.
“Economic reform must improve lives, not punish them,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Atiku urged Nigerians to reject what he described as a trajectory of deepening hardship and embrace leadership committed to restoring dignity and shared prosperity.
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