Nigeria@66: APC Backs Tinubu’s Reforms As Atiku, Obi, APM, SDP Fault President’s Speech

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has backed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 66th Independence Day broadcast, saying his reforms have placed Nigeria on the cusp of prosperity, as opposition parties faulted the speech as disconnected from the living conditions of Nigerians.

In a statement to mark the anniversary, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said the nation’s democratic evolution was forged by the courage of founding fathers and nourished by sacrifices of pro-democracy icons, particularly late Chief MKO Abiola.

Morka said in honour of Abiola and democratic forebears, the Tinubu administration has been unyielding in expanding democratic freedoms and delivering economic prosperity.

“Over the past three years, the Tinubu administration has taken bold and unprecedented policy action to reset the structural foundations of our national economy. While these economic reforms, including the fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange harmonisation, triggered transient economic pains, the sacrificial pain endured by Nigerians now ushers a Nigeria on the cusp of democratic consolidation and economic prosperity never before seen in history,” the APC said.

The party said realigned monetary and fiscal policies have stabilized the Naira, reduced inflation, boosted foreign reserves, and driven enhanced revenues across federal and sub-national governments, while improved crude oil output and support for domestic refining have made Nigeria a major exporter of refined petroleum products.
It also cited financial autonomy for local governments, youth empowerment and social investment initiatives including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the Consumer Credit Scheme (CREDICORP), and cash transfer to over 15 million indigent citizens.

“True independence goes beyond the hoisting of a flag, but by building a strong, united and self-reliant nation, securing its borders, and securing the future of unborn generations. This remains the abiding commitment of our great Party and administration,” Morka said, adding that “the dawn of a prosperous Nigeria is nigh.”
However, opposition parties picked holes in the President’s address.

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for 2027, Atiku Abubakar, led the criticism, saying Tinubu’s declaration of an “age of prosperity” does not reflect reality in homes and markets.

In a counter address at the ADC headquarters in Abuja, Atiku said, “Sixty-six years after independence, millions of Nigerians are fighting for things a free country should never put beyond their reach: food on the table, a wage that lasts the month, and a safe journey home. The past three years under Bola Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history.”

He faulted petrol subsidy removal without protection, noting that in April 2023, a N30,000 minimum wage could buy about 118 litres of petrol, while today N70,000 buys just 50 litres. He said an egg rose from about N88 to N261, and a sliced loaf from about N500 to about N2,000 between April 2023 and May 2026.

“A slower rise in prices does not restore what families have lost… Growth must improve lives. It cannot be a certificate of success that government awards itself while citizens struggle to survive,” Atiku said.

He also criticised extension of the 2025 capital budget to December 2026, demanded transparency over the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract awarded to Hitech, a Chagoury Group company, without open tender, and questioned the claim that over 10 million Nigerians received N75,000 each in cash transfers totalling at least N750 billion.

“While politicians speak of hundreds of billions in relief, consider what happened at the Niger State Government House. Three people died in a stampede after a crowd gathered amid reports that N10,000 would be distributed,” he said, calling for an account of the incident.

Atiku also questioned the President’s promise of lower transport fares from October 1, saying, “You advertised cheaper transport from October 1. Today is October 1, and commuters are still asking where they can find the lower fares.”

On his part, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, demanded a structural overhaul of governance, warning that leadership failures have pushed over 140 million Nigerians into severe hardship.

“Independence anniversaries must never be reduced to mere celebration. They are moments for honest national reflection,” Obi said, noting that over 140 million citizens live in extreme poverty, over 40 million face acute starvation by end of 2026, out-of-school children have surged past 18 million, 35 million youths are unemployed or underemployed, drug abuse is at 14 percent against a global benchmark of 6 percent, and life expectancy stands at 54 years against a global average of 74 years.

Similarly, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), through its Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organization, dismissed the speech as “a rhetorical exercise bereft of clear plans.”

Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, said, “It is absurd for Mr President to claim that his administration’s reforms did not weaken the economy when the abrupt removal of subsidy on petrol and the floating of the Naira created a calamitous economic shockwave that led to an astronomical rise in the pump price of fuel from N187 per litre to N1,500 today and the weakening of our currency from N460 to $1 to about N1,380 today.”

APM said the reforms crippled the productive sector and forced multinationals including GlaxoSmithKline, Procter and Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, PZ Cussons, Equinor, Microsoft and Uber to exit, while offering no plans for Nigeria’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit and N166.7 trillion public debt as government seeks fresh $1.5 billion World Bank loan.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) also said acclaimed reforms do not reflect living conditions.

National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, said policy announcements have left “a yawning gap between democratic dividends and socio-economic realities,” calling for revamping the economy, fair resource distribution, food security, judicial reforms, fiscal transparency and transition from a palliative economy to a production-driven one.

“We cannot continue this unsustainable regime of subsidising corruption using borrowed funds… and short-term emergency reliefs of distribution of grains, palliatives and cash transfers,” SDP warned, saying 2027 offers opportunity for transformation with its Prince Adewole Adebayo and Dr Usman Bugaje ticket.