Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar warned that the World Bank's latest data show "over 60% of Nigerians now living below the poverty line, up from about 40% just a few years ago, this is not reform—it is regression on a monumental scale." The statement, signed on Friday in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, blames President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's policies for the surge. Atiku described the rise as "the direct outcome of poorly conceived and harshly implemented policies, from the abrupt removal of fuel subsidies to the chaotic devaluation of the naira, all executed without adequate safeguards for the Nigerian people." He added that "food prices have spiralled out of control, inflation has wiped out incomes, small businesses are collapsing, and millions more Nigerians are being pushed into extreme poverty." The former vice‑president contrasted Tinubu's focus on macro‑economic indicators with the "hunger, uncertainty, and a daily struggle for survival" experienced by many. Atiku concluded that "leadership is not about defending failure—it is about correcting it," and outlined an alternative based on "experience, pragmatism, and compassion," stressing job creation, food security and targeted social protection.
Atiku Abubakar's blunt indictment of President Tinubu hinges on the World Bank's stark figure that more than six in ten Nigerians now live below the poverty line. By foregrounding that statistic, Atiku forces a reckoning with a policy agenda that, in his view, has accelerated hardship rather than alleviated it.
The criticism is rooted in two controversial moves: the sudden removal of fuel subsidies and the rapid devaluation of the naira. Both actions, according to Atiku, stripped households of purchasing power and sent inflation soaring, eroding the modest gains of the past decade. The World Bank's acknowledgment of rising poverty amid "so‑called reforms" suggests a disconnect between official rhetoric and on‑the‑ground realities.
For ordinary Nigerians, especially small‑business owners and low‑income earners, the implication is immediate: dwindling real wages and soaring food costs translate into fewer meals and heightened insecurity. If the current trajectory persists, urban informal workers and rural farmers alike will face deeper deprivation, limiting social mobility and increasing reliance on informal coping mechanisms.
This episode mirrors a broader pattern in recent Nigerian administrations where macro‑economic adjustments are pursued without accompanying safety nets. The episode underscores the political risk of policy experiments that overlook the socioeconomic fabric of the country.
