Atiku Criticises Tinubu’s Economic Reforms, Says Cost of Living Now Unbearable

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies of worsening hardship for Nigerians, describing the current cost of living as “unbearable.”

In a statement issued on Friday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress faulted the direction of the administration’s reforms and rejected the President’s recent characterisation of Nigeria’s reform history.

Atiku argued that across the country, families are struggling to afford meals, businesses are closing, and citizens are seeing their incomes eroded by rising inflation and diminishing purchasing power.

“What has been marketed as reform has translated into hardship without relief—policies that bite harder each day while offering no clear path to recovery,” the statement read.

The former vice president also took issue with President Tinubu’s comments on privatisation, insisting that his own record in office demonstrates the benefits of well-managed state asset sales.

He cited several companies including Oando Plc, Conoil Plc, Ardova Plc, Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals, Benue Cement Company, and Transcorp Hilton Abuja as successful outcomes of the privatisation programme he oversaw.

Atiku further accused the current administration of running a “commercialisation” of the national oil company “in opacity without clear valuation, without transparency, and with lingering questions about who truly benefits.”

“This is not reform; it is privatisation without accountability,” the statement declared.

The former vice president also responded to what he described as the President’s “reckless tirade,” suggesting that Mr Tinubu appears unfamiliar with documented accounts of Nigeria’s reform history, including the book The Accidental Public Servant by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

Atiku added that the President’s resort to mockery reflects a deeper leadership concern, saying: “The President’s attempt to reduce a serious economic legacy to playground ridicule only underscores a deeper problem: a leadership more comfortable with insults than with facts.”

As of the time of this report, the Presidency had not issued an immediate response to Atiku’s latest criticism.