The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of diverting attention from Nigeria’s worsening economic and security challenges by focusing its attacks on the opposition’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement issued on Monday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that the APC was more interested in criticising Atiku than addressing the rising cost of living, insecurity and increasing poverty affecting Nigerians.
According to the opposition party, the APC chose to focus on comments made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about Atiku while ignoring concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) regarding the country’s deteriorating socio-economic conditions.
The ADC argued that the ruling party was attempting to divert public attention from its performance in office.
“Unable to defend its catastrophic record after the Catholic Bishops laid bare the true state of the nation during their recent meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC has shamelessly seized on comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a desperate attempt to shift the national conversation away from its poor performance over the last three years,” the statement read.
The party further accused the APC-led administration of spending more time responding to critics than addressing the challenges confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“The result is a government that spends more time arguing with its critics than answering the concerns of ordinary Nigerians. Nigerians are yet to hear a convincing explanation for why life has become significantly more difficult under President Tinubu and the APC,” Abdullahi stated.
The ADC also defended Atiku’s record as Vice President during the Obasanjo administration, describing it as a period marked by stronger economic growth, macroeconomic stability and improved investor confidence. It maintained that political disagreements could not erase those achievements.
Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar also criticised the Presidency’s defence of President Tinubu’s economic performance, describing it as an attempt to substitute propaganda for measurable results.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President argued that government statistics could not conceal the economic hardship Nigerians continue to face.
“If the economy is doing so well, why are Nigerians getting poorer?” Atiku asked, insisting that claims of economic progress had failed to improve the living conditions of ordinary citizens.
He cited rising poverty, factory closures, soaring food prices, unemployment and worsening insecurity as evidence that the administration’s economic policies had not delivered meaningful benefits to Nigerians.
Atiku further argued that governments should be judged by the impact of their policies on citizens rather than favourable macroeconomic indicators.
“Nigerians cannot eat GDP. They cannot cook with debt-to-GDP ratios. They cannot pay school fees with statistical projections,” he said.
The latest exchange underscores the intensifying political rivalry between the APC and the opposition as parties continue to position themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections.
