The media adviser to African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has said the country’s economic situation will worsen if President Bola Tinubu is re-elected in 2027.
NEWSNGR reports that Ibe made the statement in response to comments by Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, who said Tinubu’s economic reforms had increased the number of Nigerians living in poverty.
Ibe, in a post via his 𝕏 handle, said the admission indicted an administration he accused of focusing more on defending its policies than protecting Nigerians’ welfare.
According to Atiku’s aide, economic reform aims to improve human welfare, not impoverish citizens.
Paul Ibe argued that Nigerians are not laboratory rats for Tinubu’s economic experiments, adding that citizens deserve relief, dignity and a better life, which Tinubu’s second term cannot guarantee.
He said, “Daniel Bwala’s admission on @channelstv that @officialABAT’s economic reforms have pushed more Nigerians into poverty is revealing. It is an indictment of an administration that appears more concerned with defending its policies than protecting the people those policies are supposed to serve.
“Let me remind @BwalaDaniel of a fundamental principle of governance: policies are made for man, not man for policies.
“The purpose of economic reform is to improve human welfare, not to impoverish citizens and then celebrate their suffering as a necessary sacrifice.
“If Tinubu’s policies have pushed more Nigerians into poverty, destroyed purchasing power, increased the cost of food, transportation and electricity, and undermined businesses, then those policies deserve urgent review, not endless propaganda.
“That is precisely why @atiku has proposed a review of the Tinubu administration’s approach to petrol subsidy and electricity pricing, including a transparent, production-based subsidy framework that can reduce energy costs and provide relief to households and businesses.
“Reform must have a human face. Economic policies should serve the people, not sacrifice the people on the altar of economic theories.
“Bwala speaks of progress. But progress for whom? The government collecting more revenue or the Nigerian struggling to feed a family, pay electricity bills and keep a business alive?
“Tinubu cannot claim economic success while admitting that his policies have made more Nigerians poor.
“The ultimate measure of good governance is not how stubbornly a government defends its policies, but how positively those policies transform the lives of its citizens.
“Nigerians are not laboratory rats for Tinubu’s economic experiments. They deserve relief, dignity and a better life which Tinubu’s second term cannot guarantee. Indeed, Tinubu is primed to be an undertaker if handed a return mandate.”
