Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says his former ally, President Bola Tinubu, in one year in office, has exacerbated the horrible economic legacy, poverty, misery and joblessness of his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari. 

Under Tinubu’s watch, “all the economic ills—joblessness, poverty, and misery—which defined the Buhari-led administration have only exacerbated,” said Mr Abubakar, who contested against Mr Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election. 

He added, “Predictably, 12 months on, Tinubu’s pledge of growing the economy and ending misery remains unfulfilled. His actions or inactions have significantly worsened Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability. Nigeria remains a struggling economy and is more fragile today than it was a year ago.”

In a statement on Wednesday, the former vice-president said Nigeria as Africa’s leading economy “has slipped to the fourth position lagging behind Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa,” pointing out that “citizens’ hopes have been dashed (and not renewed contrary to the propaganda of the administration) as Nigeria’s economic woes have multiplied.”

Mr Abubakar’s criticism of Mr Tinubu’s presidency came as the latter marked his first year as president. 

Ajuri Ngelale and Bayo Onanuga, presidential media aides, could not immediately be reached for comments. 

Nigerians have berated Mr Tinubu as a failure in his first year in office, lamenting economic hardship characterised by hunger, spiking food prices, and insecurity under Mr Tinubu’s watch. 

Mr Tinubu assumed office to inherit a N46 trillion debt profile from the Buhari regime, according to the Debt Management Office. The law requires Nigeria to pay debt with close to 80 per cent of its earnings.

Though economic hardship predated Mr Tinubu’s presidency, his dual policies of fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira have seen pump prices jump from N145 to N710 while the naira continues its free fall against the dollar, trading for about N1,500 to a dollar.

Economic experts and the International Monetary Fund have lauded Mr Tinubu’s dual policies as bold moves. However, spiking food prices shooting through the roof under Mr Tinubu’s watch has seen Nigerians on different occasions hit the streets in Niger, Osun, Ibadan and Lagos States, Mr Tinubu’s home state, lamenting hardship in the country. 

Different market surveys by Peoples Gazette showed that prices of food items have increased nationwide by over 100 per cent since Mr Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2024. 

In March, a government-owned warehouse in Abuja was raided, and residents looted food items. While in Suleja and Zaria, trucks carrying foodstuffs were attacked and ransacked as widespread hunger ravaged the country.