Nigerians Priced Out of Decent Living – Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Tinubu administration of worsening Nigerians’
purchasing power, stating that the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Household Expectations Survey
shows families are increasingly unable to afford homes, cars and basic household assets.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank
Shaibu, Atiku said the survey represented a damning verdict on the government’s economic policies and
contradicted claims of recovery and prosperity.
According to the CBN data cited by Atiku, buying conditions stood at 28.7 points for motor vehicles, 28.9
for consumer durables and 30.0 for buildings and landed property.
Willingness to purchase vehicles was even lower at 18.7 points, while willingness to buy buildings and
landed property stood at 19.2 points.
“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,” Atiku said.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 elections argued that the
crisis had moved beyond rising food prices to affect Nigerians’ ability to accumulate assets and improve
their living standards.
“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,” he stated.
Atiku noted that many families were exhausting their incomes on food, transportation, electricity and
school fees, leaving little or nothing for savings, investment or asset acquisition.
He linked the findings to the rising cost of food, citing the SBM Jollof Index, which put the cost of
ingredients for a pot of jollof rice for a family of five at an average of ₦29,578.
This, he said, could consume more than 40 per cent of the ₦70,000 national minimum wage before
other 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,” Atiku said.
He criticised the administration for focusing on headline indicators such as GDP growth and foreign
reserves while household conditions deteriorated.
“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 added.
By Oyinkansola Shittu.
