The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described reports indicating that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 percent as a damning verdict on the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu.
A statement issued on Friday and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the figures reflect worsening economic hardship for millions of Nigerians as rising fuel and transportation costs continue to drive up the cost of living.
The party said the new report only confirms earlier surveys showing deep public dissatisfaction with the direction the country is heading under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
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According to the ADC, the report—presented at a policy dialogue in Abuja—showed that poverty in Nigeria increased sharply from about 50 percent before the subsidy removal to 63 percent afterward, as higher fuel and transportation costs spread across the economy and pushed up the prices of food, transportation, and other essential goods.
The party said the development reflects what it described as the real consequences of the government’s decision to remove fuel subsidy without adequate safeguards for vulnerable citizens.
“The latest report showing that Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 percent following the removal of petrol subsidy by President Tinubu three years ago is a damning verdict on the administration’s economic policies,” Abdullahi said.
“Yet, this report only confirms what millions of Nigerians already know from their daily experience: the cost of living is rising rapidly, purchasing power is collapsing, and families across the country are being pushed deeper into hardship.”
The ADC argued that the government had justified the removal of subsidy on the grounds that resources saved would be redirected to critical sectors such as health and education. However, the party maintained that there is little evidence that these sectors have benefited significantly from the policy.
“Three years on, none of these sectors has been funded any better, and citizens have not seen the benefits of subsidy removal,” Abdullahi said.
The opposition party also cited independent surveys which it said reflect widespread dissatisfaction with the current economic situation.
“Independent surveys already show that 93 percent of Nigerians believe that under President Tinubu, the country is heading in the wrong direction,” the statement said.
“Eighty-eight percent describe the national economy as bad, while another 74 percent say their personal living conditions are poor. These are not abstract statistics; they are the voices of a population under intense economic pressure.”
The ADC further noted that there is mounting evidence of widespread deprivation across the country, with many Nigerians struggling to meet basic needs.
“There is mounting evidence of widespread deprivation,” Abdullahi said. “A large majority of Nigerians report going without basic necessities such as food, clean water, medical care, cooking fuel, and even cash income at different times during the past year.”
“For millions of households, economic hardship is no longer a temporary difficulty; it has become a daily reality. This is what happens when the government is more concerned with external validation than the well-being of its own people.”
The party stressed that the success of any economic policy should ultimately be judged by its impact on the welfare of ordinary citizens, particularly the most vulnerable.
“The standard measure of any economic policy is whether it has made life better for the majority of citizens and protected the most vulnerable,” the statement said.
“On this score, the APC government has failed,” the ADC said.