The African Democratic Congress (ADC) demanded that President Bola Tinubu abandon “his neoliberal economic policies that have ruined the lives of almost the entire country or simply quit,” or resign immediately on Saturday.
The party issued the ultimatum following a succession of damning international development reports detailing widespread economic hardship across Nigeria.
Citing data from the World Bank and the World Food Programme (WFP), the opposition leadership argued that the administration’s macroeconomic adjustments have systematically eroded the living standards of ordinary citizens.
The political intervention escalates structural opposition to the government’s aggressive fiscal choices, which include fuel subsidy removal and currency flotation.
According to the ADC, the statistical indicators released by global institutions serve as an undeniable indictment of the presidency’s current direction.
Market-driven reforms clash with basic survival across Nigeria
The confrontation highlights a fundamental ideological divide over the trajectory of Africa’s most populous economy. Since taking office, President Tinubu has pursued orthodox neoliberal adjustments praised by international lenders for boosting state revenue and foreign reserves. However, the immediate domestic fallout has been catastrophic, characterised by unprecedented inflation and a severe cost-of-living crisis that has pushed millions into extreme vulnerability.
By demanding a shift from “statistics over survival,” the opposition is positioning itself ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle, framing the current administration’s record not as a period of transition, but as a structural failure. The unfolding crisis demonstrates that economic indicators celebrated in financial capitals mean very little when they are divorced from the immediate realities of food security and domestic purchasing power.
Opposition attacks reliance on temporary state palliatives
The party’s leadership explicitly rejected the presidency’s reliance on emergency distribution networks and financial handouts to cushion the macroeconomic shock.
In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party condemned the current trajectory:
“The evidence of 139 million people living in poverty and 17 million at the risk of starvation is President Tinubu’s scorecard. On account of this catastrophic failure alone, President Tinubu should be contemplating resigning from office rather than seeking re-election.”
The opposition further challenged the moral authority of the political elite, arguing that structural adjustments have not been mirrored by state austerity at the top.
“A President whose government is not openly feasting while asking the people to continue fasting. A government that does not wallow in profligacy while handing the people palliatives. This is why the ADC rejects the cycle of temporary interventions and emergency responses that has come to define the APC’s economic policies in the name of social intervention programmes. Poverty cannot be defeated through palliatives. It can only be defeated by building an economy that enables Nigerians to produce more food, earn decent incomes, and live with dignity.”
The ADC instead proposed a production-led alternative focused on reducing energy tariffs and reviving agricultural infrastructure, including the rehabilitation of 264 abandoned dams to secure year-round food cultivation.
