In a scathing rebuke of the current administration, key figures within the Atiku Abubakar-led opposition coalition have condemned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government, describing it as “incompetent, disconnected, and anti-people.” The statement comes amid growing public frustration over economic hardship, rising debt, and Nigeria’s diminishing global influence.
Speaking at a high-level coalition meeting in Abuja, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition leaders—including David Mark, Sule Lamido, and Peter Obi—declared that the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) has plunged the nation into “unprecedented suffering,” citing soaring inflation, hunger, and youth unemployment.
“Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world, and under this administration, we’ve now overtaken war-torn Sudan in child malnutrition,” Atiku stated. “The only thing growing in Nigeria is hardship.”
The coalition, which has adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform for the 2027 elections, emphasized that the Tinubu government has failed on all fronts—economy, security, and diplomacy. Nigeria’s exclusion from a recent U.S.-Africa summit hosted by President Donald Trump was cited as a glaring example of the country’s waning international relevance.
Opposition leaders also criticized the federal government’s borrowing spree, noting that public debt has ballooned from ₦49 trillion in 2023 to over ₦144 trillion in just two years. They accused the administration of reckless spending and policies that disproportionately hurt the poor while benefiting the elite.
“From education to healthcare, Nigerians are now faced with class-based systems where the wealthy enjoy VIP treatment and the rest are left behind,” said Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication.
The coalition pledged to restore accountability, economic justice, and democratic values, warning against any attempt to turn Nigeria into a one-party state. They called on Nigerians to rally behind a united opposition to rescue the country from what they described as “a regime of chaos and elite control.”