Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and presidential
candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says President Bola
Tinubu’s economic policies have made decent living unaffordable for many
Nigerians.
In a statement issued on Saturday by Phrank Shaibu, his
senior special assistant on public communication, Atiku said the latest Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) household expectations survey contradicts the federal
government’s claims that the economy is improving.
Citing the report, the former vice-president said buying
conditions stood at 28.7 points for motor vehicles, 28.9 points for consumer
durables and 30.0 points for buildings and landed property.
He added that willingness to purchase vehicles was 18.7
points, while that for buildings and landed property stood at 19.2 points.
“These are not figures manufactured by the opposition. They
are the verdict of Nigerian households captured by the Central Bank under
President Tinubu’s own government,” Atiku said.
“What the figures tell us is simple: Nigerians are being
priced out of decent living. A home is becoming a fantasy. A car is becoming a
luxury. Household appliances are increasingly beyond reach.
“Families are exhausting their incomes on food,
transportation, electricity, school fees and other necessities, leaving
practically nothing for savings, investment or asset acquisition.”
Atiku said the findings reinforce the recent SBM
Intelligence Jollof Index, stating that the cost-of-living crisis has expanded
beyond food prices to affect the aspirations of ordinary Nigerians.
“Only recently, the Jollof Index told us what Tinubu’s
economy has done to the Nigerian kitchen. Now the CBN survey is telling us what
it has done to the Nigerian dream,” he said.
“The numbers make the tragedy even more stark. According to
the latest SBM Jollof Index, the ingredients required to prepare a single pot
of jollof rice for a family of five now cost an average of ₦29,578.
“Think about what that means for a worker earning the
₦70,000 minimum wage: one ordinary pot of jollof rice can swallow more than 40
per cent of an entire month’s salary, before rent, transportation, electricity,
school fees and healthcare are considered.
“And this is the same economy in which Nigerians are now
postponing the purchase of homes, cars and basic household assets because there
is simply no disposable income left.
“Tinubu has not merely made life more expensive; his
policies are steadily pricing ordinary Nigerians out of food, comfort, asset
ownership and the basic dignity of a decent life.”
The former vice-president accused the Tinubu administration
of celebrating macroeconomic indicators while household purchasing power
continued to decline.
“Government officials can celebrate GDP growth, foreign
reserves and other statistics from air-conditioned conference rooms, but
ordinary Nigerians have become unwilling economists, calculating every cup of
rice, every litre of fuel and every transport fare before deciding what their
families can afford,” he said.
“Between official statistics and empty cooking pots, the
cooking pots do not lie.”
Atiku warned that shrinking household purchasing power would
also undermine businesses and the wider economy.
“An economy is not successful merely because government
officials can quote favourable statistics. An economy succeeds when citizens
can work, earn, eat, save, invest and progressively improve their standard of
living,” he said.
“Before there is GDP, there must be dinner. Before there is
prosperity, there must be purchasing power. And before a government
congratulates itself on reform, ordinary citizens must be able to see and feel
improvement in their own lives.”
He urged the president to focus on improving the welfare of
Nigerians rather than relying on what he described as “PowerPoint economics”.
“President Tinubu should stop governing Nigeria through
PowerPoint economics. The real economy is the Nigerian family’s pocket, and
that pocket is increasingly empty,” Atiku added.
“A government under which families struggle to afford jollof
rice, workers cannot contemplate buying cars and millions see home ownership
disappearing beyond the horizon cannot proclaim prosperity.
“Tinubu has not merely increased the cost of living. He has
increased the cost of dreaming.”
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