ADC Tackles Shettima Over Tinubu’s ‘Economic Rescue’ Claim
By Tams Jonah, ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council has challenged Vice President Kashim Shettima’s claim that President Bola Tinubu saved Nigeria from economic collapse, arguing that the statement raises questions about the record of the All Progressives Congress administration under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Shettima had on Saturday said Tinubu inherited an economy “teetering on the verge of collapse” and took difficult decisions, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the realignment of the foreign exchange system, which he said saved the country from “falling into pieces.”
But the ADC PCC, in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the Vice President’s claim amounted to an indictment of the Buhari administration, which also governed the country under the APC platform.
Ologbondiyan argued that if Nigeria was indeed heading towards “Caracas” before Tinubu assumed office, as Shettima claimed, then the APC should accept responsibility for the economic situation after governing the country for eight years under Buhari.
“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,” Ologbondiyan said.
He also questioned why Nigerians should trust Tinubu, whom he described as a major promoter and defender of the Buhari administration, if the APC now sought to distance itself from the record of the former government.
According to him, Tinubu had previously defended the Buhari administration and promised to build on its legacy, making it difficult for the present government to disassociate itself from the party’s previous record.
Ologbondiyan said Nigerians identify the administrations of Buhari and Tinubu with the APC rather than as separate political entities.
He accused the APC-led government of failing to address challenges in areas including roads, electricity, public institutions, insecurity, unemployment and the rising cost of living.
The ADC spokesman said the immediate concern of ordinary Nigerians was the affordability of food and other basic necessities rather than what he described as political propaganda.
“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,” he said.
Ologbondiyan also rejected Shettima’s “Caracas” analogy, arguing that Nigerians were already experiencing the conditions the Vice President had warned against.
“Nigerians are not heading to Caracas; under the APC, Nigerians are already living the Caracas experience in their own country,” he said.
The ADC PCC spokesman further questioned the Federal Government’s planned deployment of 10,600 electric tricycles, 300 buses and electric taxis under an e-logistics programme, describing the announcement as another promise that should be judged by implementation.
He recalled the administration’s earlier promise that transportation costs would fall by October 1, 2026, urging Nigerians to assess the government based on what had been delivered rather than on new assurances.
The council called on Shettima and the APC to acknowledge the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians instead of attempting to distance the present administration from the record of the previous APC government.
It said the ADC remained committed to providing an alternative political platform and urged Nigerians to support efforts aimed at making life more affordable and restoring economic confidence.
The statement was signed by Ologbondiyan, Director of Media and Publicity, ADC Presidential Campaign Council.
