Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday lambasted President Bola Tinubu for plunging Nigeria into most severe cost of living crisis and failing in core responsibilities of securing lives and property government while presiding over waste and corruption.

Mr Abubakar, in his speech marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day anniversary, said “Sixty-six years after independence, millions of Nigerians are fighting for things a free country should never put beyond their reach: food on the table, a wage that lasts the month, and a safe journey home. 

“The past three years under Bola Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in our history. Families are not merely tightening their belts. They are skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive until payday,” Mr Abubakar said.

He added, “And what has this government asked of them? More patience. More sacrifice. More faith in figures they cannot eat. While Nigerians are lectured about hardship, those in power preside over brazen waste, corruption and a budget process that makes a mockery of fiscal discipline. The people are told there is no money to ease their pain, yet government always seems to find money for its own appetites.”

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Mr Abubakar lamented widespread insecurity in the country, saying Mr Tinubu failed the two major tests on security and economy.

“And beyond the market, our nation is bleeding. Armed groups have killed thousands and driven families from their communities. Farmers fear their fields. Parents fear for children in their classrooms. Families dread the call demanding ransom for someone they love. A government that cannot make life affordable and cannot protect life has failed the two tests that matter most to its people,” Mr Abubakar said.

Mr Abubakar’s statement partly responded to Mr Tinubu’s dismissal of his call for fuel subsidy restoration as an idea from regressive opposition. 

In his Independence Day speech on Thursday, Mr Tinubu said, “Now, as certain influential but regressive voices would have us abandon the treatment and return ourselves to the abuse of addictive subsidies, we must resist their siren song. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come. Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them.”