Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his description of Nigeria as a cancer patient in his Independence Day address.
Atiku questioned why Nigerians were still struggling with the cost of food, medicine and transportation after nearly three years of Tinubu’s administration.
Tinubu, in his nationwide broadcast marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, likened the country’s economic situation before his administration to a cancer patient requiring difficult and painful treatment. He said his government had chosen to tackle the underlying problems rather than merely manage their effects.
Speaking at a world press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Atiku challenged the President over the outcome of the reforms, asking why Nigerians were finding it increasingly difficult to meet basic needs.
“Bola, you called Nigeria a patient with cancer. After three years of your treatment, why is it harder for Nigerians to buy food, pay for medicine, or even get to work? Why does your government have more money while the people can afford less?” Atiku asked.
He said a patient who complains about pain should be listened to by the doctor rather than criticised for asking when the treatment would produce results.
“You said Nigerians must endure the pain because you are curing the disease, but when a patient cries out, a doctor listens. He does not call the patient retrogressive for asking when he will get better. He does not point to the hospital’s rising revenue and declare him healed,” he said.
Atiku further argued that the economic difficulties facing Nigerians could not be used as evidence that the treatment was working.
“A patient who cannot afford to live is not proof that the treatment is working. Absolutely not. And you cannot speak as though you arrived from the moon in 2023,” he said.
The ADC candidate also referenced the role of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which has been in power at the federal level since 2015, in the country’s economic challenges.
“Your party had governed Nigeria for eight years, if not more. If the country was as sick as you say, tell Nigeria to come to the places where Nigerians make their daily choices,” Atiku said.
Tinubu, in his Independence Day address, defended his administration’s economic reforms, saying they had confronted longstanding structural problems and laid the foundation for what he described as a new phase of shared prosperity. He said the reforms had been difficult but argued that economic indicators showed an improving outlook.
Atiku’s remarks form part of his continuing criticism of the Tinubu administration’s handling of the economy and the cost of living. In a previous press briefing, he had also called for measures to reduce petrol and electricity costs, arguing that high energy prices were increasing pressure on households and businesses.
