The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said that the Federal Government’s announcement of $1 billion social protection program is a panic reaction to the plan of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to introduce targeted production subsidy to bring down the cost of living, if elected.
ADC also accused President Bola Tinubu of impoverishing millions of Nigerians through what “failed economic policies” and then trying to “buy them back” with a hurriedly created palliative, a few months to the polls, writes The Guardian.
Meanwhile, Atiku and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, are expected to be present at the First Summit of Nigeria’s Opposition Political Parties being convened by G100 on Monday, August 31, 2026 at Yar’Adua Center, Abuja.
The party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, asked where the government got the money after three years of asking Nigerians to endure hardship, demanded clarity on the programme’s funding and questioned the role of the First Lady in the programme’s launch.
“ADC has taken note of the announcement by the Federal Government of a $1 billion social protection program, unveiled by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
“We find it quite remarkable this sudden discovery of compassion and money. Nigerians have suffered for three years under the weight of food prices, travel expenses and declining buying power, while this government has argued that there is no money to cushion the effects of its reforms. Now elections are at the corner and it has suddenly discovered $1 billion for the needy. If the government can magically find the money, then why had it been unconcerned about the plights of Nigerians for three years? Or does the impoverished only become apparent when their votes become valuable?
The opposition party added that it was even more illuminating that the Tinubu government has admitted that Nigerians now need protection from the economic shocks of its failed policies, particularly the withdrawal of gasoline subsidy.
“This is what our presidential candidate Atiku has been saying in advocating a targeted production subsidy to reduce the cost of living. The government rejected the plan and told Nigerians its authorities that subsidising in any form was not viable.
“Why did it take the widely accepted Atiku plan for this wicked government to remember that economic reforms should protect human beings?
The Abuja summit, themed: ‘A Framework for Opposition Cooperation and Coordination’ will have the leadership of six major opposition parties participating to commence structured negotiations on the terms, institutions and principles on which they could cooperate in the run up to the 2027 general election.
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