Atiku Calls Tinubu Government’s 90-Day Cost Of Living Relief A Scam

African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described President Bola Tinubu’s 90-day cost-of-living relief plan as a scam and election bait, saying its deadline falls after Nigerians would have voted.

Addressing a world press conference at the ADC Secretariat on Friday, Atiku’s media aide, Phrank Shaibu, who is also Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, said the timing of the plan exposed its political motive.

“The presidential election is 86 days away. Yet President Bola Tinubu’s National Economic Council has announced a cost-of-living plan that will run for 90 days.

“The arithmetic is plain: the plan ends after Nigerians have voted. After three and a half years of hardship, this government is asking families to carry another promise into the polling booth and wait for relief until the votes are counted.

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“This is election bait. Tinubu is offering hungry Nigerians the promise of affordable food, but the promised relief comes with a deadline that outlasts the election. The message is simple: vote first; relief later. Nigerians should refuse the bait and judge this government by the three and a half years they have already lived through,” Shaibu said.

He said the plan lists five priorities: food affordability, tax harmonisation, completion of important projects, removal of investment bottlenecks and household support, but noted that these are the very problems Nigerians have demanded the government address since it took office.

“Families have cut meals. Workers spend more of their wages getting to work. Manufacturers struggle to produce, and businesses have closed. Tinubu cannot erase three and a half years of hardship with a 90-day announcement.

“When he removed the petrol subsidy, the impact on transport, food and production costs was predictable. Protection for vulnerable households should have come alongside that decision. Instead, the government imposed the costs immediately and left Nigerians to wait for the benefits. Now, after years of hardship, it has suddenly discovered that people need affordable food.

“A government cannot put a 90-day deadline on hunger, the cost-of-living crisis and insecurity and call it an economic policy,” he said.

Shaibu, who spoke for Atiku, also faulted Tinubu’s planned visit to Kaduna to launch his re-election campaign, recalling the tragedies the state has endured under his presidency.

“On 3 December 2023, an Army drone struck civilians gathered for a Maulud celebration in Tudun Biri. At least 85 people were killed. Tinubu sent his Vice President to visit survivors; he did not go himself to sit with families mourning their dead.

“In September 2024, residents of Giwa reported that another military airstrike killed at least 24 civilians. Families in Kajuru have buried loved ones and searched for relatives abducted by bandits. In September 2025, an attack involving kidnapping in Kachia affected 152 people; eight deaths and nine injuries were recorded.

“Kaduna has also suffered devastating storms and floods. In July 2025, windstorms and rain affected 6,172 people and damaged hundreds of shelters across five local government areas. In September, flooding in Zaria affected 476 people and left dozens injured.

“When families were burying their dead, searching for their children and clearing wreckage from their homes, Kaduna needed the attention of its President. Yet the Presidency’s account of Tinubu’s September 2025 visit listed a wedding and a courtesy call. Now, with an election approaching, he is returning to launch a campaign.

“Tinubu can find his way to Kaduna for a wedding. He can find his way there for votes. Why was he absent when grieving families needed their President?

“He must not turn those families into a backdrop for a campaign celebration. Before asking Kaduna for another mandate, he should explain what has been done for the victims of Tudun Biri, what became of investigations into civilian deaths and how his government will protect communities still threatened by abduction,” he said.

Shaibu said the same pattern of grand announcements and little relief was evident in the government’s fuel promotion.

“NNPC began a petrol discount promotion on 1 October, which the government later presented as part of its relief effort. I visited NNPC Retail stations myself. Attendants told me there was no discount, and I bought petrol at ₦1,405 per litre.

“With barely a week left before the offer expires, my experience as a customer was simple: a promise of relief, and a higher price at the pump. If NNPC says motorists can access a discount through an app, it must explain why customers arriving at its stations were told there was none. How many customers received the discount? At which stations? How many litres were sold at the reduced price? Publish the figures.

“NNPC has about 900 retail stations in a country where Nigerians buy petrol from thousands of outlets. What reach can a ₦66-per-litre promotion have when it is confined to that network? And what lasting relief does ₦66 offer families whose transport and food bills remain high?

“Tinubu announces relief at a podium. Nigerians arrive at the pump and pay more. Now his government expects the country to trust another announcement, this time with a 90-day deadline,” he said.

He said the timing was impossible to ignore, noting that Atiku Abubakar has made the cost-of-living crisis central to his campaign and pledged to make Nigeria affordable again.

“Tinubu’s government is trying to appropriate that message with a plan that runs through the election. Nigerians should not trade three and a half years of lived hardship for three months of promises,” Shaibu said.

The ADC campaign demanded answers on the government’s five priorities:

“Food affordability: Which costs will fall for farmers, transporters and traders? When will families see lower prices in the market, and what will keep food affordable after 90 days?

“Tax harmonisation: Which charges will be removed or combined, and when? The government must publish the full tax schedule and explain whether today’s promise of relief will be followed by higher charges after the election.

“Important projects: Which projects will be completed within 90 days? Where are they, how much remains to be paid, and when will the public be able to use them? A project is complete when it serves people, not when it is marked complete on a government dashboard.

“Investment bottlenecks: Which barriers will the government remove in 90 days? Manufacturers need reliable power, workable transport costs and access to affordable finance. Businesses cannot reopen, invest or hire on the strength of a press release.

“Household support: Who qualifies? How much will each household receive? When will payments begin, and what happens after day 90? Publish the eligibility rules, the budget and the payment method.”

Shaibu also raised concern over a registration form being distributed under the name “Arise for Tinubu 2027,” which asks for voter identification, bank details and phone numbers.

“Who is collecting this sensitive personal information, how will it be used, and is the exercise connected to the household support the government has announced?

“No Nigerian should have to hand over voter or bank details to a political group to receive public relief. The government must state clearly whether this registration exercise is connected to any publicly funded programme. If it is not, it must explain how it will prevent household support from being used to recruit voters or collect their data,” he said.

He said Nigerians have carried the burden of the government’s reforms and have every right to demand proof that the promised benefits will reach them and continue after election day.

“People do not reject reform because they fail to understand it. They reject being told to sacrifice today for relief that never arrives — or arrives with an expiry date.

“Atiku Abubakar has pledged to make Nigeria affordable again through disciplined public spending, targeted relief for households, lower costs of producing and moving essential goods, and an economy where Nigerian manufacturers can expand and employ more people. Economic policy should be judged by what families can afford, not by how many deadlines a government announces.

“Tinubu must answer two questions: Are Nigerians better off than they were in May 2023? And will they still be able to afford food on day 91 of his plan?

“Until he can answer both, Nigerians have every reason to see this 90-day exercise for what it is: a political timetable dressed up as economic relief.

“President Tinubu made life expensive. Atiku Abubakar will make life affordable again.”