ADC Mischievously Misleading Nigerians On 63% Poverty Rate – APC

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is mischievously misleading Nigerians by attributing the recent report indicating that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 percent to the economic policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The ADC had said a recent report indicating that Nigeria’s poverty rate rose to 63 percent following the removal of petrol subsidy reflects the real scorecard of President Tinubu.

The opposition party said the poverty rate was a consequence of the president’s ill-defined neoliberal economic policies.
However, the APC said it was a matter of national consensus that the fuel subsidy and foreign exchange regimes, as operated prior to May 29, 2023, had become an existential threat to the country’s economic survival.

According to the APC, removing or drastically reforming both systems had long been on the national agenda, but previous administrations could not muster the political will to do so, largely due to concerns about the transient economic hardship the reforms would inevitably impose on Nigerians.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Saturday, the APC said Tinubu announced the end of fuel subsidy during his inauguration as president and subsequently harmonised the multiple foreign exchange regimes.
The ruling party argued that these bold and historic policy shifts unshackled Nigeria from the throes of economic stagnation and disintegration and gave the country a fighting chance to build a stronger, more resilient and prosperous economy.

“The African Democratic Congress (ADC)’s attempt to spin a recent report presented at the Agora Policy dialogue indicating a rise in the poverty rate to 63 percent from 49 percent as a ‘damning verdict on this administration’s economic policies’ speaks either to its shocking ignorance of economic policy or its wilful blindness to the justification for, and transformative impacts of, ongoing economic reforms.

“Even the report that the ADC sought to cheaply politicise was categorical about the imperative of the reforms meant to correct age-long and crippling structural distortions in the economy.

“Clearly, the ADC does not recognise itself as a political party. The party has not articulated a single alternative policy position or prescription beneficial to Nigerians.
“Condemning the APC and its policies has become its operating manifesto, with absolutely nothing to offer by itself or by its power-mongering leaders.
“The ADC continues to wallow in the idea that its empty attacks will somehow endear the party to Nigerians. But Nigerians are, by far, smarter than that. They know the party that is working for them and those that are only shooting the breeze and disturbing the airwaves like the ADC.

“The fuel subsidy removal represents one of the most consequential fiscal policy decisions in the country’s recent history. For decades, the fuel subsidy regime placed a devastating burden on public finances, gulping trillions of naira annually while delivering limited benefits to ordinary Nigerians.

“In reality, the fuel subsidy regime enabled widespread inefficiencies, corruption and fraudulent dealings, large-scale fuel smuggling across borders, and enriched middlemen and import cartels to the detriment of Nigerians.

The regime was a gaping fiscal hole that drained resources that are now being redirected to vital sectors such as infrastructure development, education, healthcare and social development under the present APC-led administration,” the statement read in part.

The APC said economic reform often entails making difficult choices among competing alternatives or between maintaining an existing but destructive system and instituting a more efficient and beneficial one, as was the case with the fuel subsidy removal.

“Economic reform is never cost-free. It is not cost-free anywhere in the world, and it is not cost-free in Nigeria. The transient and now fading hardship experienced by Nigerians was an inevitable cost of reforms meant to build and guarantee a better future for all Nigerians.

“Today, the benefits of the reforms have become more evident and Nigeria is better for it. Nigerians understand this and have remained stoic and patriotic in their highly valued support for the government and its reforms.

“Our economy has rebounded and is expanding steadily. The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.4 percent last year and is projected to expand by 5.5 percent this fiscal year, with foreign reserves in excess of $50 billion, the highest in nearly two decades.

“Inflation continues to decline and is now trending towards single digits. Food inflation is currently at its lowest level in about 13 years. In 2025, non-oil exports reached over $6 billion, while subnational and local council governments now receive unprecedented levels of revenue allocation to drive effective governance and accelerated development at those levels.

“Macroeconomic progress continues to create job opportunities and wealth for our people. Farmers are reaping the benefits of their labour more than ever before.

“The administration has introduced and continues to implement a range of social protection measures designed to cushion the transient hardship faced by vulnerable Nigerians.

These include cash transfer programmes, targeted interventions such as student loan facilities, the CNG rollout, and broader initiatives aimed at supporting households and strengthening their resilience.

“As the administration continues to prioritise social investments, the benefits will reach larger segments of the population.

The APC-led administration of President Tinubu will not relent in its determined effort to rebuild the country’s economy for the good of present and future generations of Nigerians,” the statement added.