Atiku cites CBN data to attack Tinubu’s reforms
Atiku Abubakar has seized on CBN survey data to argue that Nigerians are being priced out of home ownership and other basic aspirations.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has seized on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Household Expectations Survey to launch a blistering attack on President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, arguing that the apex bank’s own data show that Nigerians are being priced out of home ownership, car ownership and other basic aspirations as living costs continue to soar. In a statement issued on Saturday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the survey as a damning assessment of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, arguing that it contradicted repeated government claims that the economy is recovering.
According to the CBN’s Household Expectations Survey, buying conditions stood at 28.7 points for motor vehicles, 28.9 points for consumer durables and 30.0 points for buildings and landed property. The survey also showed that households’ willingness to purchase vehicles stood at just 18.7 points, while willingness to buy buildings and landed property was 19.2 points. Atiku said the figures were significant because they came from the Central Bank under the current administration and reflected the expectations and purchasing decisions of Nigerian households. “These are not figures manufactured by the opposition. They are the verdict of Nigerian households captured by the Central Bank under President Tinubu’s own government,” he said.
The former vice president argued that the findings demonstrated that Nigeria’s economic crisis had extended beyond rising food prices to erode citizens’ ability to acquire assets and improve their standard of living. “What the figures tell us is simple: Nigerians are being priced out of decent living. A home is becoming a fantasy. A car is becoming a luxury. Household appliances are increasingly beyond reach,” Atiku said. He added that many households now spend nearly all their earnings on food, transportation, electricity and school fees, leaving little room for savings, investments or asset acquisition.
Atiku also linked the CBN findings to the rising cost of food, citing the latest SBM Intelligence Jollof Index, which estimated that preparing a pot of jollof rice for a family of five now costs an average of ₦29,578. He noted that the amount represents more than 40 per cent of Nigeria’s ₦70,000 minimum wage, leaving workers with little income to cover rent, transportation, electricity, healthcare and other essential expenses. “Only recently, the Jollof Index told us what Tinubu’s economy has done to the Nigerian kitchen. Now the CBN survey is telling us what it has done to the Nigerian dream. Tinubu first stole jollof rice from the family dining table. Now, his economy is taking away the house in which the table should stand and the car with which the breadwinner should get to work,” he said.
Atiku further accused the Tinubu administration of focusing on macroeconomic indicators while ignoring the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians. He argued that statistics such as Gross Domestic Product growth and rising foreign reserves meant little if households continued to struggle with declining purchasing power. “Government officials can celebrate GDP growth, foreign reserves and other statistics from air-conditioned conference rooms, but ordinary Nigerians have become unwilling economists, calculating every cup of rice, every litre of fuel and every transport fare before deciding what their families can afford. Between official statistics and empty cooking pots, the cooking pots do not lie,” he said.
The former vice president warned that weakening household purchasing power would ultimately affect businesses, employment and economic growth by reducing consumer demand. “An economy is not successful merely because government officials can quote favourable statistics. An economy succeeds when citizens can work, earn, eat, save, invest and progressively improve their standard of living. Before there is GDP, there must be dinner. Before there is prosperity, there must be purchasing power. And before a government congratulates itself on reform, ordinary citizens must be able to see and feel improvement in their own lives,” the statement added.
The Federal Government has consistently defended its economic reforms, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market, maintaining that the measures are necessary to stabilise the economy, attract investment and lay the foundation for long-term growth. Government officials have also pointed to improvements in key macroeconomic indicators as evidence that the reforms are beginning to yield results, even as many Nigerians continue to grapple with rising food prices, high transportation costs and mounting pressure on household incomes.
Atiku, however, insisted that the true measure of any economic policy should be its impact on the welfare of citizens. “President Tinubu should stop governing Nigeria through PowerPoint economics. The real economy is the Nigerian family’s pocket, and that pocket is increasingly empty. A government under which families struggle to afford jollof rice, workers cannot contemplate buying cars and millions see home ownership disappearing beyond the horizon cannot proclaim prosperity. Tinubu has not merely increased the cost of living. He has increased the cost of dreaming,” he said.
The clash between Atiku and the Presidency is not new. It is the latest chapter in a long-running war of words between the former vice president and the Tinubu administration. The difference this time is the ammunition: the CBN’s own survey data. Atiku has used the government’s own numbers to attack its policies, a tactic that is politically potent. The winners: Atiku Abubakar, who has gained a political weapon; and the Nigerian public, who may feel their struggles are being acknowledged. The losers: the Tinubu administration, which faces fresh criticism over its economic policies; and the Nigerian economy, which suffers from a credibility gap that makes it harder to attract investment.
Bottom Line: Atiku has used the CBN’s own survey to argue that Nigerians can no longer afford basic necessities. The question is whether the government can convince citizens that its reforms are working.