Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has slammed the President Bola Tinubu-led government over its management of the economy.

Atiku said that “no amount of lying with statistics” could shield the administration from what he described as its worsening economic record.

The former vice-president also accused the current administration of attempting to rewrite Nigeria’s economic realities through what he called “creative accounting” and polished public presentations, maintaining that the daily hardship confronting Nigerians tells a completely different story.

Atiku, in a statement yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, dismissed recent comments by the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, who had defended the administration’s economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy, debt management strategy and workers’ welfare initiatives.

According to the former vice-president, the government’s explanation that savings from the removal of fuel subsidy are being deployed to reduce inherited liabilities is inconsistent with publicly available financial records.

He said that rather than reducing indebtedness to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Tinubu administration had significantly expanded it.

Atiku said that government’s borrowing from the apex bank increased by N17.39 trillion between May 2025 and May 2026, representing a 77.6 per cent rise, saying: “This completely destroys the narrative that subsidy savings are being used to reduce government indebtedness. Nigerians deserve honesty, not creative accounting.”

He, however, challenged the administration’s claim that subsidy savings have translated into improved welfare for Nigerian workers, maintaining that key components of the new wage package remain outstanding despite official commitments.

On education financing, Atiku questioned the government’s assertion that proceeds from subsidy removal were funding the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund).

He noted that the agency’s management had publicly stated that it received a N50 billion injection from funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The ADC chieftain, therefore, blamed the government’s economic policies for soaring borrowing costs, saying that the sharp increase in the Monetary Policy Rate had made credit increasingly unaffordable for businesses while worsening the country’s debt servicing burden.

He also urged government officials to abandon what he described as media spin and instead confront Nigeria’s economic challenges with sincerity, competence and accountability.

HOWEVER, the Presidency has dismissed Atiku’s criticism of Tinubu’s economic policies, insisting that the administration’s reforms are producing measurable results and have placed Nigeria on the path to long-term recovery.

In a lengthy statement titled “Facts, Not Fear: A Point-by-Point Response to Atiku Abubakar on Nigeria’s Reform Journey,” Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, accused Atiku of relying on outdated economic data and ignoring improvements recorded since the reforms began.

According to Onanuga, politics thrives on disagreement. Democracy demands it. But disagreements must be rooted in facts, not frozen snapshots of history.

He said although Atiku had accused the Tinubu administration of fiscal recklessness, excessive borrowing, poor handling of fuel subsidy removal, punitive tax reforms and concealing an alleged N7.98 trillion oil windfall, his concerns, though misplaced, deserve a response… because Nigerians should have a fuller picture of where the country is today.

Onanuga said that Atiku’s economic assessment remained “anchored to developments in the 2024 fiscal year,” adding that such an approach ignored the progress made since then.

He also highlighted achievements in education, including the NELFUND, saying that over 1.64 million students had benefited from the scheme, with more than N303 billion disbursed through 300 higher institutions.