The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC PCC) has challenged Vice President Kashim Shettima’s claim that President Bola Tinubu rescued Nigeria from economic collapse.
The party said Shettima’s assertion amounted to an indictment of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The council said Shettima’s claim that Nigeria was heading towards “Caracas” before Tinubu assumed office was effectively an admission that the APC government failed during
Buhari’s eight-year tenure.
The ADC Campaign’s position was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan.
Ologbondiyan accused Shettima of attempting to rewrite the APC’s history in an effort to defend what he described as the failures of the Tinubu administration.
He argued that if Nigeria was indeed on the verge of economic collapse before Tinubu took office, as Shettima claimed, then the APC must accept responsibility for the condition of the country after governing 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.
“And if that is the case, why should Nigerians believe Tinubu, who is of the same APC stock and was a major promoter and defender of the Buhari administration?” Ologbondiyan queried.
The ADC spokesman recalled that Tinubu had repeatedly defended the Buhari administration and promised to build on its legacy, arguing that the current administration could not now disown the record of the same party under Buhari.
“But Nigerians do not know Buhari as an individual; Nigerians know APC. It is the APC, on whose platform President Tinubu is seeking a second term, that has failed Nigerians for almost 12 years and is undeserving of another four years,” he said.
The spokesman listed deteriorating roads, inadequate electricity, weakened public institutions, insecurity, unemployment and the rising cost of living among the challenges he attributed to APC rule.
He said the immediate concern of Nigerians was not political rhetoric but the ability to afford food and other basic necessities.
“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.
The Campaign Council spokesman further turned Shettima’s “Caracas” analogy against the administration, insisting that Nigerians were already experiencing the conditions the Vice President warned about.
“Nigerians are not heading to Caracas; under the APC, Nigerians are already living the Caracas experience in their own country,” Ologbondiyan said.
He also questioned Shettima’s promise to deploy 10,600 electric tricycles, 300 buses and electric taxis under an e-logistics programme in the coming weeks.
Ologbondiyan urged Nigerians to judge the administration by its delivery rather than fresh promises, recalling its earlier pledge that transportation costs would fall by October 1, 2026.
The ADC PCC urged the Vice President and the APC to stop what it described as “revisionist narratives” and acknowledge the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians.
It said the ADC remained committed to providing an alternative government capable of reversing what it described as the failures of APC rule and restoring economic security and public confidence.
The party called on Nigerians to unite behind a government that would make life more affordable and restore hope to the country.
