ADC: Poverty Now 63%, 93% Of Nigerians Say Country On Wrong Path

The African Democratic Congress has said a vast majority of Nigerians believe the country is moving in the wrong direction, citing independent survey data which it claims shows that 93 per cent of citizens are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bola Abdullahi, attributed the growing dissatisfaction to rising poverty levels, worsening living conditions, and increasing hardship across the country.

The ADC had earlier, in a statement on Tuesday, accused the Tinubu administration of pushing Nigeria’s poverty rate above 63 per cent, arguing that policies introduced by the ruling All Progressives Congress had deepened economic hardship for many citizens.

Responding, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, defended the government’s economic reforms, stating in a Saturday statement that Nigerians largely support the policies, which he said are already yielding positive results. The ruling party also accused opposition groups of attempting to incite public discontent against the government.

However, the ADC insisted that publicly available data and reports reflect the real impact of the administration’s economic policies on ordinary Nigerians.

“The African Democratic Congress takes note of the ruling party, APC’s response to our earlier statement on the rising poverty figures under the Bola Tinubu-led government. But instead of addressing the clear evidence that more Nigerians are falling into poverty under this government, the ruling party has chosen to attack the opposition and dismiss the lived realities of millions of citizens. Facts, however, cannot be dismissed by press statements,” the statement said.

According to the party, an independent report indicated that Nigeria’s poverty rate had risen to 63 per cent, up from about 50 per cent before the removal of the petrol subsidy.

“This means that tens of millions of additional Nigerians have been pushed into poverty since the administration’s economic policies were introduced. The APC claims Nigerians support its reforms, yet the data says otherwise,” the ADC stated.

The party added that surveys show 93 per cent of Nigerians believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, while 88 per cent describe the national economy as bad and 74 per cent say their personal living conditions are poor.

“These are not opposition talking points; they are the views of Nigerians themselves, APC members included,” the statement added.

The ADC further argued that the hardship facing Nigerians is far from temporary, citing survey figures indicating that 82 per cent of Nigerians reported going without sufficient food at least once in the past year, while similar proportions lacked access to medical care.

It also said 79 per cent of respondents had gone without cooking fuel, 74 per cent lacked access to clean water at some point, and 95 per cent reported going without a cash income during the same period.

“These figures point not to temporary discomfort but to widespread and deepening economic distress,” the party said.

The opposition party also criticised the sharp rise in fuel prices since May 2023, when Tinubu assumed office, noting that petrol prices have increased from about N255 per litre to around N1,500 in many parts of the country.

According to the ADC, the increase has driven up transportation costs and food prices, placing basic necessities beyond the reach of millions of households.

The party also questioned the government’s claim that savings from the removal of fuel subsidy—estimated at about N6.4 trillion last year—were being redirected to key sectors such as healthcare and social development.

“However, it is on record that only N36 million, about 0.02 per cent of the capital budget, was actually released for capital projects in 2025 for Nigeria’s entire federal healthcare sector,” the statement said.

The ADC also raised concerns about developments in the agricultural sector, claiming that nearly 90 out of more than 150 rice mills across the country had shut down operations, with the remaining ones operating below capacity.

Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the party added that Nigeria’s food import bill had risen sharply from N3.83 trillion in 2023 to N7.65 trillion, representing an increase of about 100 per cent.

“This shows that instead of strengthening our local agricultural sector and protecting Nigerian farmers, the policies of the APC government are undermining domestic production and putting thousands of Nigerian farmers and processors out of business,” the ADC said.

The party concluded that economic reforms should ultimately be measured by their impact on citizens’ welfare.

“Nigerians do not expect economic lectures or political attacks on the opposition. They expect policies that make their lives better.

“The APC may dismiss these concerns, but Nigerians cannot dismiss the realities of the APC’s failures that they confront every day. Until the APC-led Tinubu government begins to measure success by the well-being of its citizens, the gap between official claims and the lived reality of Nigerians will only continue to widen,” the statement added