The Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC) has blamed the call for rejection of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 Presidential election on the poverty and misery Nigerians are facing.
In a statement today under the headline “The People’s Verdict: Tinubu Must Go” and signed by its convener, Engr. Martin Onovo said, Nigerians were promised Renewed Hope, prosperity, jobs, food security, safety and a better future in 2023 but regretted that millions of Nigerians are faced with a different reality of deeper hardship, renewed hunger, insecurity and uncertainty about tomorrow.
He said: “When promises are deceitful and the people suffer, the people have a right to pass their verdict: “Tinubu Must Go”.
According to the latest numbers released by the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform, Nigeria has 94.7 million people living in “extreme poverty” causing the country to have the biggest number of people living in “extreme poverty,” the statement added.
“A country with huge human and natural resources should not be synonymous with mass poverty. The will of the people is plain, as poverty deepens under a dictatorship that promised prosperity.
Onovo pointed out the many reasons Nigerians are clamouring for a new government, saying, “Nigerians are hungry not because they are lazy but because the ruined economy has made survival more difficult. Food prices are out of reach for many families, purchasing power has been reduced and hard-working folks are struggling to make ends meet during these difficult times. Any dictatorship presiding over the breakdown of the welfare of the people has forfeited its moral right to ask for votes.
Nigeria’s children are paying a heavy price for poor administration. The number of children out of school has climbed to 18.2 million from roughly 10 million, Unesco says, producing a generation at danger of poverty, exploitation, crime and hopelessness. “Any government that cannot provide education for its children cannot say it is building the future. The verdict of the people for the future of Nigerian children is: “Tinubu Must Go”.
He describes insecurity as a daily nightmare. Nigerians are being kidnaped, towns are being attacked, farmers are terrified to cultivate their farms, IDPs are in dreadful camps and travellers remain insecure on the nation’s routes.
“The first duty of government is to safeguard life and property. If a regime fails to protect its citizens, then the citizens must utilise their democratic power to demand that it do so.
“Nigeria is experiencing what many Nigerians are terming a debt crisis. Borrowing has reached levels never before seen, inflicting an unacceptable burden on present and future generations. But despite the massive borrowing, the average Nigerian can’t point to any commensurate increase in healthcare, education, infrastructure, jobs, or welfare.
“Rampant corruption is the order of the day. Management of state resources, particularly the much debated ₦210 trillion NNPCL issue, has come to the fore, because of public documents, including the 2025 Auditor-General of the Federation’s report. At a time when millions of Nigerians cannot afford food, education or healthcare, all public resources must serve the people, not escape into a system of impunity. When public wealth is taken and the people sink deeper into poverty, the people say ‘Tinubu Must Go’.
“Billions of dollars have been spent on the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s refineries, yet Nigerians continue to pay the price of a dysfunctional petroleum sector. Public money should deliver public value. “When huge national resources are deployed without commensurate results to the sacrifices of the people, Nigerians have every reason to reject the political establishment responsible for the failure.”
Nigerians have watched waste and cost of governance grow while their own lives become harder. The gulf between those who govern and those who suffer the repercussions of government decisions keeps widening.
“They advise the people to make sacrifices and bear hardship, while those who are in power live in luxury and enjoy illicit privileges.
“A regime that demands sacrifice from its people but does not show sacrifice itself cannot pretend to be ruling in the interest of the people.
He said democracy was under siege and popular confidence in the legislature was diminished, while major questions remained about the independence, integrity and credibility of the court.
“The Tinubu regime promised to fight poverty but poverty has increased. It promised wealth, But difficulties have increased. It promised security but Nigerians are more unsafe. It promised a new dawn of optimism, but millions now face a new dawn of starvation, dread and despair. A government should be judged by its performance, not by its slogans.
No amount of propaganda can lower the price of food in the market. No political rhetoric can satisfy an empty stomach. But no government press release can save a business that’s gone under from the pressure of escalating costs. “Nigerians don’t eat skewed government statistics, they live with the consequences of government policies every day.”
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