The African Democratic Congress has criticised the Federal Government’s celebration of Nigeria’s reported Gross Domestic Product growth, arguing that the economic figures do not reflect the hardship facing ordinary Nigerians.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the government was attempting to “use headline GDP figures to whitewash the deep economic suffering Nigerians are currently enduring across the country.”
The opposition party said rising food prices, inflation, weak purchasing power, unemployment, and the collapse of small businesses showed that many citizens were yet to feel the impact of the reported economic growth.
“People do not eat GDP,” the party stated, insisting that economic growth is only meaningful when it improves living conditions, creates jobs, and reduces hardship.
The ADC added, “Economic growth that does not reduce suffering, create jobs, improve incomes, or restore dignity to citizens is empty growth. Growth that only exists in official reports while citizens descend deeper into hardship is not meaningful progress.”
The party accused the government of focusing on economic statistics rather than the realities confronting Nigerians daily in markets, farms, factories, and homes.
It said, “Food prices are unbearable. Transportation costs have become punitive. Small businesses are shutting down daily under the crushing weight of inflation, energy costs, and weak consumer demand. Salaries have lost value. Families who once lived modestly are now struggling to survive.”
