Friday, November 13, 2026

Nigeria witnessing unprecedented insecurity, poverty under Buhari: Atiku 

The former vice president said since the return of democracy in 1998/99, Nigeria has never found itself in such a very critical point in our history.

• August 22, 2022
Atiku Abubakar
Atiku Abubakar

Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, says Nigeria has all negative indices in terms of insecurity, poverty and unemployment under President Muhammadu Buhari.

The former vice president said since the return of democracy in 1998/99, Nigeria has never found itself in such a very critical point in our history.

“Today, we have had all the negative indices. Today, we are all disunited in the nation. We have never experienced this level of poverty,” Mr Abubakar said. “We have never experienced this state of insecurity. We have never experienced this level of unemployment. We have recognised all these negative development in our history.”

Mr Abubakar disclosed this while speaking at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association in Lagos.

Nigerian displaced India to become world’s poverty capital in 2018. However, the Buhari regime has maintained that his regime has done well regardless of criticisms.

Last week, presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu said Mr Buhari runs the most “compassionate government” in the world, claiming that even Americans are now begging for food due to global economic hardship.

“So I’m saying to you the government of Nigeria is perhaps the most compassionate you can ever have anywhere” Mr Garba told Trust TV in an interview on Friday night. “This subsidy can be removed today.  But what would live be for the lowest paid employees for instance.”

“Subsidy is not the best for our circumstances but it has given this country what other countries don’t have,”  Mr Shehu said. “Look at what is happening in other countries. That is why it is good to compare. Go to the United States of America, it is not the black man, even white man beg for food,” he added. 

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Nigerian Bar Association

States

Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future

The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Tuberculosis patient

Health

Domestic TB funding rose 14% to $5.6 billion, says WHO

WHO says domestic funding for TB rose 14 per cent to $5.6 billion between 2024 and 2025, helping sustain essential services despite declining international financing.

Patrick Lumumba

Africa

Lumumba urges Africans to defeat xenophobia, strengthen Pan-Africanism

Kenyan lawyer, scholar, and Pan-Africanist Patrick Lumumba has urged Africans to confront xenophobia with love, unity, and stronger economic cooperation.

States

NAFDAC ‌‍busts seals warehouses selling banned, hazardous chemicals

NAFDAC sealed off four warehouses and seized banned chemicals worth N560 million in Kano metropolis.

NationWide

NRM, PDP call for greater women’s participation in 2027 elections

NRM and PDP have called for greater women’s participation and representation in Nigeria’s political leadership ahead of the 2027 elections.

Lagos

At least seven people killed in Lagos-Ibadan Expressway crash

At least seven people were killed and 11 injured in a road crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday.

Anti-Corruption

TRCN uncovers 250 fake certificates during recruitment

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) says it has uncovered 250 fake teaching certificates during a recruitment exercise.