Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed grave concern over the World Bank’s confirmation that notwithstanding what millions of Nigerians are already experiencing daily—”poverty is rising at an alarming rate under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
According to him, “over 60% of Nigerians now living below the poverty line, up from about 40% just a few years ago, this is not reform—it is regression on a monumental scale.”
In a statement signed Friday in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the crisis is neither accidental nor unavoidable.
“It is the direct outcome of poorly conceived and harshly implemented policies, from the abrupt removal of fuel subsidies to the chaotic devaluation of the naira, all executed without adequate safeguards for the Nigerian people.
“The consequences of these trial-and-error policies are visible everywhere: food prices have spiralled out of control, inflation has wiped out incomes, small businesses are collapsing, and millions more Nigerians are being pushed into extreme poverty.
“While the Tinubu administration points to abstract macroeconomic indicators, Nigerians are living a far harsher reality—one defined by hunger, uncertainty, and a daily struggle for survival. This is not reform. It is economic shock therapy imposed on a vulnerable population.
“Funnily enough, a government that blames others while failing to shield its citizens from the shocks of a global trade war only ends up exposing its own incompetence.”
The statement said the World Bank has acknowledged the troubling paradox of rising poverty amid so-called reforms, exposing a government dangerously disconnected from the lived realities of its citizens.
“A government that presides over a situation where the majority of its people are poor, yet insists that progress is being made, has lost both moral authority and economic direction.”
Meanwhile, the former Vice President has offered a clear and credible alternative—”one rooted in experience, pragmatism, and compassion. He believes that reform must be carefully sequenced, not recklessly imposed; that social protection must be real, targeted, and transparent, not symbolic; and that economic policy must prioritise job creation, food security, and income growth.
“The Waziri Adamawa’s approach focuses on rebuilding productivity through support for small businesses, agriculture, and industry, while ensuring coordination in fiscal and monetary policy to stabilise the economy and restore confidence.
“The ADC chieftain’s position is straightforward: economic reform must improve lives, not punish them.”
He said Nigeria cannot continue on a path where poverty deepens while government celebrates policy experiments.
“Leadership is not about defending failure—it is about correcting it. The evidence is already clear in the lives of Nigerians.”