From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed the 90-day cost of living relief announced by the Federal Government as a scam.
Atiku, who spoke through the Director, Strategic Communication, ADC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Phrank Shaibu, at a press briefing, on Friday, in Abuja, described the 90-day cost of living relief as a bait to lure Nigerians to vote for President Bola Tinubu in the January 16 presidential contest.
The National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Vice President, Kashim Shettima, had on Thursday, announced a 90-day cost of living relief.
Nonetheless, the former vice president, while urging Nigerians not to fall for the bait, said the deadline falls after they would have voted in the presidential poll. Besides, he argued that the President Tinubu led Federal Government has a record of not keeping its promises to Nigerians.
According to him, “The presidential election is 86 days away. Yet President Bola Tinubu’s National Economic Council has announced a cost-of-living plan that will run for 90 days.
The arithmetic is plain: the plan ends after Nigerians have voted. After three and a half years of hardship, this government is asking families to carry another promise into the polling booth and wait for relief until the votes are counted.
“This is election bait. Tinubu is offering hungry Nigerians the promise of affordable food, but the promised relief comes with a deadline that outlasts the election. The message is simple: vote first, relief later. Nigerians should refuse the bait and judge this government by the three and a half years they have already lived through, Atiku said.”
He added that “the plan lists five priorities: food affordability, tax harmonisation, completion of important projects, removal of investment bottlenecks and household support. These are the very problems Nigerians have been demanding that this government address since it took office. Families have cut meals.
“Workers spend more of their wages getting to work. Manufacturers struggle to produce, and businesses have closed. Tinubu cannot erase three and a half years of hardship with a 90-day announcement.”