ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has berated the federal government for ignoring the real message in the recent comments by the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the state of the Nigerian economy, choosing instead to celebrate the headlines.
ADC said that government officials and their media surrogates have amplified only one soundbite from her remarks, where she credited the administration for “stabilizing the economy,” while deliberately ignoring her more serious call for urgent measures to grow the economy and establish social safety nets for millions of Nigerian families suffering the negative impacts of the government’s reforms.
ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, noted that the effusive celebration of the headlines reflects a government in desperate need of validation, rather than one focused on the job at hand.
The party noted that Okonjo-Iweala’s recent comments on President Tinubu and the Nigerian economy have been seized upon by government officials and their media allies as if their scandalous implementation of hard reforms, which have condemned the majority of Nigerians to absolute poverty and destroyed millions of jobs, had received endorsement by the oracle herself, adding this is not correct.
“Dr. Okonjo-Iweala knows that a stable economy is one that is growing in real terms, led by jobs and productivity. She knows that a stable economy is one that is able to guarantee minimum standards of living for the people. She knows that economic stability that leaves the majority in grinding poverty is meaningless.
“Therefore, what she’s really saying — which the government has chosen to ignore — is that the economy is not growing, jobs are not being created, and too many people are suffering as a direct consequence of President Tinubu’s ill-conceived and badly implemented reforms. These are the issues she wanted the government to address.
“Like the international stateswoman that she is, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala prefaced her comments with the niceties befitting her stature by commending the administration for ‘stabilizing the economy.’ But, having done with that courtesy, she immediately highlighted the urgent need for job creation to bring succour to the ever-growing army of unemployed youths and others who lost their jobs as businesses shut down under the crushing weight of the Tinubu-led government.
“She said the government needs to urgently grow the economy to put money in people’s pockets — which means that whatever ‘stable economy’ the government is celebrating has not translated into real relief for hundreds of millions of Nigerian families, and they need to change course,” the party said.
The ADC cautioned the APC not to celebrate as the economy is not performing in a way that could justify such selective optimism.
“For the record, the economy is not performing in a way that could justify such selective optimism. GDP growth in Q1 2025 was 3.13 percent, and Q2 registered barely over 3 percent — a sluggish pace that fails to meet the expectation of broad-based expansion.
“Forecasts for the year hover between 3.0 percent and 3.4 percent, far from the robust rebound the administration envisioned. Headline inflation remains unyielding, sitting at 22.22 percent as of June, with food inflation at 21.97 percent, meaning that millions of Nigerians are paying more, not less.
“Petrol prices now average N1,037.66 per litre, still a significant burden on households and small businesses. The naira trades at around N1,530 to the dollar — drastically weaker than President Tinubu’s pre-reform levels of N460 — eroding purchasing power across the board.
“In fact, it is the Tinubu administration’s policy choices — fuel-subsidy removal, naira devaluation, tariff hikes on electricity and transport — that have triggered this distress and made social safety nets not optional but essential. Yet these programs have either been administered haphazardly, suspended, or had negligible impact,” the ADC said.
The party further said that every well-meaning Nigerian knows that celebrating the mere appearance of ‘stability’ is not only pyrrhic but also dangerous.
“This is why, we believe, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala tweeted a clarification this afternoon, noting that Nigerians are experiencing hardship from President Tinubu’s reforms, and that putting in place more programs to help especially the poor and vulnerable manage this hardship is very important. She further stressed that ‘At the same time, it is necessary to start work on growing the economy to create more jobs and put money in people’s pockets.’
“It is in this regard that the ADC strongly believes such candour from a global economic leader like Dr. Okonjo-Iweala underscores the urgent need for federal government policies that go beyond rhetoric and propaganda, but interaddress the daily harsh realities of millions of Nigerians under the APC,” the ADC said.
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