How Has Removal Of Subsidies Benefited Nigerians? ADC Asks Tinubu
How Has Removal Of Subsidies Benefited Nigerians? ADC Asks Tinubu
…Says 570% Fuel Price Hike Has Made Life Unbearable
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to explain how the removal of petrol subsidy has benefited ordinary Nigerians, accusing the government of imposing unbearable economic hardship on citizens.
The opposition party said petrol prices had increased by about 570 per cent since Tinubu removed the subsidy in May 2023, arguing that the development had made transportation unaffordable, pushed up food prices and weakened small businesses.
In a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC urged Nigerians to draw lessons from the recent United States midterm elections, where voters dealt a major electoral blow to the ruling Republican Party amid rising living costs.Buy Maps
The party said the American election had reinforced its position that the cost of living and affordability of basic necessities would remain decisive factors in electoral outcomes, urging Nigerians to make economic hardship a central issue in the January 2027 elections.
According to the ADC, average petrol prices rose from N238.11 per litre in May 2023 to N1,596.25 in May 2026, representing an increase of approximately 570 per cent.
It said the increase was not merely an economic statistic but had translated into higher transportation costs, rising food prices and mounting pressure on households and businesses.
“The lesson from America is simple: governments must answer to the people for their economic decisions. In January, the cost of living must be at the centre of Nigeria’s democratic choice,” the party said.Buy Maps
The ADC accused the Tinubu administration of repeatedly asking Nigerians to make sacrifices for a better future without demonstrating how the removal of fuel subsidies had improved the living conditions of ordinary citizens more than three years after the policy was introduced.
“Every Nigerian household is paying the price for the APC and Tinubu’s failed policies,” the statement added.
The opposition party said Nigerians deserved clear explanations from the Federal Government on how fuel, electricity, food and transportation would become affordable as the country approached the January 16 presidential and National Assembly elections.
It argued that the ruling All Progressives Congress had failed to provide convincing answers to the economic challenges confronting Nigerians, insisting that the same concerns over affordability that influenced American voters should shape Nigeria’s electoral decisions.Buy Maps
“The APC and President Tinubu clearly do not have answers. It is for the same reason that Americans voted against the ruling Republican Party, and it is for the same reason that Nigerians should reject the ruling APC in January,” the ADC said.
