The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has chided the Federal Government, accusing it of deliberately “twisting” Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s comments on the Nigerian economy.
Recall that the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was quoted by President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman to have said that the administration’s policies have stabilised the Nigerian economy.
But in a statement on Friday by the spokesman of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party said the presidency was being economical with the truth about Okonjo-Iweala’s assessment.
The ADC said the assessment of the Nigerian economy by the WTO boss was unflattering, but that she was diplomatic enough to have prefaced her comments with courtesy during her visit to Tinubu.
Abdullahi said Okonjo-Iweala’s comments were more about suffering Nigerians who are at the receiving end of the administration’s harsh economic policies.
The opposition spokesman said the presidency chose to celebrate the headlines while ignoring the WTO boss’s advisory on the need to grow the economy and establish social safety nets for millions of Nigerian families suffering the negative impacts of the government’s reforms.
“Government officials and their media surrogates have amplified only one soundbite from her remarks, where she credited the administration for ‘stabilising 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.”
The ADC 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.
Describing the implementation of the administration’s reforms as “scandalous”, they said the reforms have condemned the majority of Nigerians to absolute poverty and destroyed millions of jobs.
It further described the presidency’s attempt to celebrate Okonjo-Iweala’s comments on the economy as deceptive and misleading.
Continuing, the ADC said, “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 ‘stabilising 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.
“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 per cent, and Q2 registered barely over 3 per cent — a sluggish pace that fails to meet the expectation of broad-based expansion.
“Forecasts for the year hover between 3.0 per cent and 3.4 per cent, far from the robust rebound the administration envisioned. Headline inflation remains unyielding, sitting at 22.22 per cent as of June, with food inflation at 21.97 per cent, 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, and tariff hikes on electricity and transport — that have triggered this distress and made social safety nets not optional but essential.
“Yet these programmes have either been administered haphazardly, suspended, or had negligible impact. 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 programmes 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 instead address the daily harsh realities of millions of Nigerians under the APC.”
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