Tinubu’s CNG Expansion Drive Panic Mode Over 2027 Poll – ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu of going into “panic mode” over the rising cost of transportation. It described the Federal Government’s renewed push to expand compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered transportation as a “political gimmick” coming three years too late.

The party’s reaction followed an emergency meeting between President Tinubu and state governors on measures to reduce transportation costs amid worsening economic hardship and rising fares across the country.

In a statement on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that the administration’s sudden interest in CNG-powered transportation was driven more by the approaching 2027 elections than by genuine concern for Nigerians.

The party questioned why the government did not make CNG buses a central component of its policy from the outset of the petrol subsidy removal if it had known that the initiative could help reduce transportation costs.

“They left the people to suffer for three years, and now that the election approaches, they suddenly realise that they could make transportation cheaper,” the party said.

It asked: “If CNG buses can provide cheaper transportation today, why were they not rapidly deployed when Nigerians first began to pay the heavy price for their wrong-headed subsidy removal policy?”

The ADC said the timing of the government’s latest intervention was particularly significant, coming shortly after its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, placed targeted subsidies and the rising cost of living at the centre of national political debate.

“Why did it take Atiku’s subsidy plan for this government to suddenly start running helter-skelter and to realise the need to bring down the cost of transportation?” Abdullahi asked.

The opposition party maintained that Nigerians would not be deceived by what it described as an electoral strategy, arguing that citizens could distinguish between genuine intervention and measures introduced in response to the threat of electoral defeat.

“For three years, Nigerians complained about transport fares, food prices and collapsing purchasing power. The government told them to endure. Now that the election is approaching, the same government has suddenly discovered that transportation is too expensive and government intervention is necessary,” it said.

“That is not leadership. That is cynical politics.” The ADC further argued that the government’s hurried consideration of measures to cushion transportation costs showed that the administration had the capacity to mitigate the impact of its economic policies but failed to deploy such measures earlier.

“No doubt, if these interventions are possible now, they were possible then,” the party said, alleging that the difference was that the government did not consider supporting suffering Nigerians a priority until its electoral interests became threatened.

The party accused the Tinubu administration of failing to address insecurity, unemployment and the rising cost of living, insisting that the latest intervention was a response to growing opposition pressure ahead of the 2027 elections.

“A president who truly cares would not wait for three years and an approaching election before treating the cost of transportation as an emergency,” the ADC said.

“One thing is clear: President Tinubu is not suddenly responding to the suffering of Nigerians. He is responding to ADC and Atiku; he is responding to the impending reality of the 2027 election that shows that he has failed on security, failed to create jobs, and failed to bring down the cost of living.”