The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised Vice-President Kashim Shettima over his claim that President Bola Tinubu saved Nigeria from economic collapse.
On Saturday, Shettima said Nigerians should appreciate the difficult decisions taken by Tinubu since assuming office, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates.
Shettima said the economy was “teetering on the verge of collapse” when Tinubu assumed office, comparing the country’s economy to “the road to Caracas”.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Kola Ologbondiyan, director of media and publicity the ADC presidential campaign council, said Shettima’s assertion that Nigeria was heading towards “Caracas” before Tinubu assumed office was an indictment of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“Vice President Shettima’s statement is self-indicting. If Nigeria was heading to Caracas under Buhari, it means Buhari and the APC deceived Nigerians for eight years,” the statement reads.
“And if that is the case, why should Nigerians believe Tinubu, who is of the same APC stock and was a major promoter and defender of the Buhari administration?”
Ologbondiyan said the APC could not disown its own record, adding that Tinubu had repeatedly defended the Buhari administration and assured Nigerians that his government would build on the legacy of the late former president.
“But Nigerians do not know Buhari as an individual; Nigerians know APC. It is the APC, on whose platform President Tinubu is seeking a second term, that has failed Nigerians for almost 12 years and is undeserving of another four years,” he said.
Ologbondiyan accused the APC government of failing across several sectors, citing the state of roads, electricity, public institutions and the rising cost of living.
He said the immediate concern of Nigerians is not political propaganda but access to affordable food and basic necessities.
“Our roads are no longer motorable, there is no electricity, our institutions have collapsed. But what concerns ordinary Nigerians today is food, food and food, not baseless propaganda,” he said.
“President Tinubu has not saved Nigeria from collapse; he has pushed the country deeper into economic ruin, marked by unprecedented hunger, hyperinflation, naira devaluation, insecurity, mass unemployment and excruciating cost of living.”
The ADC campaign council spokesperson said Nigerians were already experiencing what Shettima described as the “Caracas” scenario, not merely heading towards it.
