By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called on president Bola Tinubu and his officials to lead by example and pay the necessary sacrifice to engender growth in the country just as it lamented his leadership style, saying that Nigerians are not clear of the direction he is taking them to.
The ADC interim national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who said this in an interview, in Abuja, said the present administration since its inception in 2023 has unleashed hardship on the citizens.
He said while the government is asking the citizens to endure, its functionaries are allegedly living in obscene luxury, with their convoys getting longer.
Abdullahi recalled that the Tinubu administration removed fuel subsidy on its first day in office, without measures to mitigate the effects of the policy, thereby unleashing untold hardship on the citizens.
Abdullahi who decried the effects of the Federal Government policies on the people, described them as punitive, stating that the present administration has failed to prioritise the well being of the people.
“the question is, what direction is this government taking Nigerians? This is a government that removed fuel subsidy from day one. And I’m not debating whether subsidy is the right thing to do or not to do. What I am saying is that, removal of fuel subsidy has brought untold hardship to Nigerians. So Nigerians are suffering as a result of your removal of fuel subsidy.
“You added the devaluation of the Naira. That further eroded the purchasing power of the people. So it means that those who were earning N30,000 or N35,000 minimum wage, now were no longer able to use their N35,000 for what they were using it for.
“Now, by the global standard, the extreme poverty line is now $2.50 per day.If you convert that to the devalued naira, that gives you like N93,000 or N94,000. So, it means that even if you pay N70,000 minimum wage, majority of Nigerians will still be below the extreme poverty line.
“Now, you didn’t stop there. You now said everybody will now from January next year, you suddenly realize that there is a law that allows you to charge 5 percent petrol tax from January next year. So, it means that even with your N35,000 or N70,000, if you buy petrol, as a vulcanizer running your small business in your corner, if you buy petrol, you pay 5 percent on every single litre of petrol that you buy.
“Then you didn’t stop there. I read this morning, another 5 percent on aviation tax, which means that for you to fly in Nigeria, flight ticket is already being priced beyond the reach of the average middle class person who want to do business and fly from Lagos to Abuja.
“Now, when you add 5 percent aviation tax, so it means that the airlines will now pass on, because it’s VAT, they said, will now pass on the cost to the passengers. Now, what exactly did we vote this government to do, to kill us? No, because there is something punitive about what they are doing,” Abdullahi said.
According to him also,“So, regardless of the technical correctness of your policies, if it’s going to break the back of your citizens, what do you do?
“But what they are doing is doubling down and telling us that it is the right thing to do, that they have to take tough economic measures to stabilise the economy, that people have to make sacrifices. And we ask question number one, can you tell us where all this is leading us? “
