LAGOS, Nigeria — Prince Adewole Adebayo, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in next year’s general election, has dismissed claims of economic progress under President Bola Tinubu, insisting that the administration’s celebrated macroeconomic gains have failed to improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
Speaking in a television interview marking the third anniversary of the Tinubu administration, Adebayo argued that government performance should be judged by realities facing citizens rather than official statistics. “No one’s life is better off except those who are in government,” he said. “When all economic policies crystallise, they are reflected in what people pay for food, rent, transportation, healthcare and education. In all of these objective indicators, no one’s life is better off than before.”
He faulted attempts by government officials to present positive economic indicators as evidence of success, saying that if the economy were truly improving, citizens would feel it without needing official explanations. “The economy belongs to all of us. If it is working, everybody will know it is working. Farmers, industrialists, traders, workers and consumers will feel it,” he said.
Adebayo also criticized the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for attributing current challenges to inherited problems, noting that Tinubu took office in 2023 after eight years of APC governance. “The same political party and largely the same political actors produced the situation they now describe as terrible,” he said.
He accused the administration of creating an “illusion of progress” through currency devaluation and heavy borrowing, arguing that increases in government revenue and foreign reserves are largely the result of naira depreciation and debt accumulation. “What they suffer from is what economists call the illusion of money. The devaluation of the naira creates the appearance that more money is coming in, but the reality is that the money has lost purchasing power,” he said.
Adebayo maintained that official macroeconomic indicators are “faulty and incorrect” because they do not correspond with the realities experienced by households and businesses. He cited rising unemployment, increasing poverty levels and declining purchasing power despite reports of GDP growth and moderating inflation. “The average Nigerian wants to know whether he can buy food tomorrow. That is the true test of economic policy,” he said.
He further blamed foreign exchange policies for worsening the financial position of state governments and businesses, noting that projects awarded before the naira devaluation had become significantly more expensive. He argued that most state governors, who belong to the APC, are implementing policies aligned with those of the Federal Government, making it difficult to separate state‑level outcomes from federal decisions.
Adebayo also criticized the government’s borrowing strategy, claiming that much of the growth in Nigeria’s foreign reserves is linked to loans rather than productive expansion. “They have engaged in heavy borrowing since coming into office, and a significant portion of the reserves being celebrated is already spoken for,” he said.
He questioned the credibility of official inflation figures, arguing that they fail to capture the realities of fuel prices, transportation costs and broader cost‑of‑living pressures. He concluded that until economic policies result in tangible improvements in daily life, claims of success by the administration would remain disconnected from reality. “The president and the country are better served by an honest assessment of the economy than by defensive arguments that do not reflect what Nigerians are experiencing,” he said.
