Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has launched a fresh attack on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies, arguing that the administration’s growth ambitions do not reflect the financial realities confronting millions of Nigerians.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, said Nigeria could not achieve a $1 trillion economy while its citizens continued to grapple with worsening economic hardship.
“You cannot build a $1 trillion economy by making your own people poorer,” Atiku said.
“That is not how prosperous nations are built. Nigeria must stop behaving like a loading bay for raw materials.”
The former vice president said the government’s focus on improving macroeconomic indicators must be matched by tangible improvements in the living conditions of Nigerians.
He argued that despite official data indicating improvements in some key economic indicators, many Nigerians had continued to face rising living costs, declining purchasing power and increasing economic hardship over the past three years.
Atiku’s criticism comes against the backdrop of fresh economic data from the National Bureau of Statistics, which showed that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated to 15.39 per cent in August 2026.
The NBS data also showed a sharp increase in raw material exports, with their value rising by 106 per cent from ₦1.86 trillion in the first half of 2025 to ₦3.84 trillion in the corresponding period of 2026.
Atiku used the figures to question the structure of Nigeria’s economic growth, warning against an economy that primarily exports raw materials rather than developing domestic industries capable of processing them and creating greater value and jobs locally.
