NBS report: Nigerians getting poorer, hungry while FG borrows to fund luxuries – Atiku’s aide
Special Assistant on Public Communication to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, Mr.Phrank Shaibu, has said the recently released report of the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, confirms what most Nigerians already face.
He said the fact that Nigerians spend a large chunk of their earnings on food alone was proof that the economy under the All Progressives Congress-led government.
Shaibu who spoke to our correspondent , in Abuja, on Thursday explained that the recently released report of the NBS equally confirms how unprepared President Bola Tinubu-led administration is for the task of governance.
He said, “We are not surprised about the findings of the report which shows that more Nigerians are being impoverished and that they are spending the little they have on feeding alone.
“What is new? Is it the fact that the prices of basic food items and consumables have pushed inflation to record heights?
“It is simply a confirmation of what we have always told Nigerians about this government.
“Nigerians will recall, the last time the NBS released its report when inflation climbed to double digits as soon as APC came into office in 2015, we informed Nigerians that the situation can only get worse because the APC is not prepared for governance.
“If Nigerians can recall, the battle cry of this administration is that it will build on what the Muhammadu Buhari administration did. What Nigerians didn’t hear was that the sufferings Nigerians were subjected to for eight years will be doubled.
“The number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty which stood at over 133 million, representing roughly 64 per cent of Nigerians during the Buhari regime, has risen under Tinubu.
“We invite Nigerians to note that when the PDP was in power, our economy was in robust health. inflation was within single digits, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar was around N180 to $1 USD but today, the Naira is the worst performing currency in the world exchanging at over N1,000 to $1USD.
“A 50 kg bag of rice under successive PDP governments sold for no more than N8,000 per bag but now you’ll struggle to get the same bag for more than N50,000 at a time the national minimum wage stands at N30,000 per month.
“The reality on the ground is that Nigerians have never had it so bad but Tinubu and his team are busy funding their luxurious lifestyles with huge budgets for the renovation of official residences and the purchase of vehicles
Little, if anything, was included in the Supplementary budget signed by the President for healthcare, building of schools and provision of infrastructure that will benefit Nigeria’s poor and vulnerable.”
