The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the Federal Government is ignoring the real message in the recent comments made by the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the state of the Nigerian economy, but instead choose to celebrate selective optimism.
ADC, in a statement issued on Friday, by the interim National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the message, Okonjo-Iweala is sending, which President Bola Tinubu’s media handlers choose to ignore, is that the economy is not growing, jobs are not being created, and too many people are suffering as a result of direct consequence of ill-conceived and badly implemented government’s reforms.
The party stated that given her status as a diplomate, the WTO DG prefaced her comments with the niceties befitting her stature by commending the administration for “Stabilising the economy,” but immediately highlighted the urgent need for job creation to bring succour to the ever-growing army of unemployed youths and others who lost their jobs as a result of poor implementation of government policies.
“She said the government needs to urgently grow the economy to put money in people’s pockets, which means that whatever ‘stable economy’ the government is celebrating has not translated into real relief for hundreds of millions of Nigerian families, and they need to change course,” ADC noted.
According to the party, the economy is not performing in a way that could justify such selective optimism, noting that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Q1 2025 was 3.13 percent, while Q2 registered barely over three percent.
This “sluggish pace,” ADC said, fails to meet the expectation of broad-based expansion.
“Forecasts for the year hover between 3.0 percent and 3.4 percent, far from the robust rebound the administration envisioned.
“Headline inflation remains unyielding, sitting at 22.22 percent as of June, with food inflation at 21.97 percent, meaning that millions of Nigerians are paying more, not less.
“Petrol prices now average N1,037.66 per litre, still a significant burden on households and small businesses.
“The naira trades at around N1,530 to the dollar — drastically weaker than President Tinubu’s pre-reform levels of N460 — eroding purchasing power across the board,” the party noted.
ADC added that the choice of Tinubu administration’s policy to remove fuel-subsidy, devalue naira, hike tariff on electricity and transport, triggered this distress and made social safety nets not optional but essential.
“Yet, these programmes have either been administered haphazardly, suspended, or had negligible impact,” the party regretted, and warned that celebrating mere appearance of ‘stability’ is not only pyrrhic but also dangerous.
“This is why, we believe, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala tweeted a clarification this afternoon, noting that Nigerians are experiencing hardship from President Tinubu’s reforms, and that putting in place more programmes to help especially the poor and vulnerable manage this hardship is very important.
“She further stressed that ‘At the same time, it is necessary to start work on growing the economy to create more jobs and put money in people’s pockets.’
“It is in this regard that the ADC strongly believes such candour from a global economic leader like Dr. Okonjo-Iweala underscores the urgent need for Federal Government policies that go beyond rhetoric and propaganda, but address the daily harsh realities of millions of Nigerians under the APC,” the statement demanded.