The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised Vice-President Kashim Shettima over his claim that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms saved Nigeria from collapse.
Shettima had said Nigerians should appreciate the difficult decisions taken by the Tinubu administration, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates.
The Vice-President said the economy was “teetering on the verge of collapse” when Tinubu assumed office, describing the situation as being on “the road to Caracas”.
Reacting in a statement on Sunday, Kola Ologbondiyan, Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, described Shettima’s remarks as an indictment of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration led by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Vice President Shettima’s statement is self-indicting. If Nigeria was heading to Caracas under Buhari, it means Buhari and the APC deceived Nigerians for eight years,” the statement reads.
“And if that is the case, why should Nigerians believe Tinubu, who is of the same APC stock and was a major promoter and defender of the Buhari administration?”
Ologbondiyan said the APC could not disown its record, arguing that Tinubu had repeatedly defended the Buhari administration and promised to build on his predecessor’s legacy.
“But Nigerians do not know Buhari as an individual; Nigerians know APC. It is the APC, on whose platform President Tinubu is seeking a second term, that has failed Nigerians for almost 12 years and is undeserving of another four years,” he said.
The ADC spokesperson also criticised the government over the state of infrastructure, electricity, public institutions and the rising cost of living.
He said Nigerians were more concerned about access to affordable food and basic necessities than political claims about the economy.
“Our roads are no longer motorable, there is no electricity, our institutions have collapsed. But what concerns ordinary Nigerians today is food, food and food, not baseless propaganda,” he said.
“President Tinubu has not saved Nigeria from collapse; he has pushed the country deeper into economic ruin, marked by unprecedented hunger, hyperinflation, naira devaluation, insecurity, mass unemployment and excruciating cost of living.”
Ologbondiyan further argued that Nigerians were already experiencing the conditions Shettima described as the “Caracas” scenario, rather than merely heading towards them.
