Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of eroding Nigerians’ purchasing power, saying the economic crisis is increasingly making home ownership, car purchases and other major household investments unattainable.
His Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu in a statement quoted Atiku to have based his criticism on figures from the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Household Expectations Survey, which he said exposed the widening gap between the government’s economic narrative and the financial reality of Nigerian households.
According to figures cited by Atiku, buying conditions stood at 28.7 points for motor vehicles, 28.9 for consumer durables and 30.0 for buildings and landed property.
Willingness to purchase vehicles fell to 18.7 points, while willingness to acquire buildings and landed property stood at 19.2 points.
Atiku said the figures showed that households were increasingly directing their incomes towards basic survival, leaving little room for savings, investment or asset ownership.
“These are not figures manufactured by the opposition. They are the verdict of Nigerian households captured by the Central Bank under President Tinubu’s own government,” he said in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
“A home is becoming a fantasy. A car is becoming a luxury. Household appliances are increasingly beyond reach.”
He linked the declining purchasing power to the rising cost of food and other necessities, citing the latest SBM Jollof Index, which he said put the cost of preparing a pot of jollof rice for a family of five at ₦29,578.
Atiku said the figure was particularly burdensome for workers earning the ₦70,000 minimum wage, arguing that feeding costs alone could consume a substantial share of monthly income before rent, transport, electricity, education and healthcare.
“Only recently, the Jollof Index told us what Tinubu’s economy has done to the Nigerian kitchen. Now the CBN survey is telling us what it has done to the Nigerian dream,” he said.
The former vice president also criticised the government’s emphasis on macroeconomic indicators, arguing that GDP growth and foreign reserves offered little comfort to households struggling with everyday expenses.
“Government officials can celebrate GDP growth, foreign reserves and other statistics from air-conditioned conference rooms, but ordinary Nigerians have become unwilling economists,” he said.
Atiku warned that declining consumer purchasing power could eventually hurt businesses, production and employment, as weaker demand reduces economic activity.
He said economic success should ultimately be measured by whether citizens can work, earn, eat, save, invest and improve their living standards.
“Before there is GDP, there must be dinner. Before there is prosperity, there must be purchasing power,” he said.
Atiku accused the administration of governing through what he called “PowerPoint economics”, saying official statistics should not obscure the hardship experienced by households.
“The real economy is the Nigerian family’s pocket, and that pocket is increasingly empty,” he said.
He concluded with a sharp assessment of what he described as the broader consequence of the economic crisis:
“Tinubu has not merely increased the cost of living. He has increased the cost of dreaming.”