Opposition voices, from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to African Renaissance Movement (ARM) convener Aliyu Audu and former Labour Party candidate Peter Obi, have accused President Tinubu’s government of celebrating revenue milestones while Nigerians endure hunger, inflation, and new taxes, branding its fiscal triumphs as cruelty over compassion.

The ADC knocked Tinubu’s administration for deceiving Nigerians with what it described as false claims of record revenue collection, warning that the government’s economic policies are worsening poverty across the country.

In a strongly worded statement issued yesterday in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the government’s narrative of meeting revenue targets is contradicted by a gaping shortfall of N21.22 trillion between the 2025 budget projection and actual collections.

According to the ADC, while the Federal Government claims to have achieved historic revenue mobilisation, the figures do not align with budgetary expectations or the lived experiences of citizens battling inflation, high transport costs, and surging food prices.

“The African Democratic Congress challenges the self-congratulatory claims by President Tinubu regarding the so-called record-breaking revenue growth. While President Tinubu and his government parade statistics and issue grand statements, the reality on the streets tells a story of hardship and suffering across the country,” the statement read.

The party noted that the 2025 budget projected a total revenue of N41.81 trillion. However, government is now celebrating the mobilisation of N20.59 trillion, leaving a shortfall of N21.22 trillion.

“Put in perspective, this would mean an average revenue of N3.48 trillion per month, totalling N27.87 trillion for the first eight months of the year. Is the government then claiming to have surpassed N27.87 trillion, or, even more incredulously, the full N41.81 trillion projection already? These figures simply do not add up,” the ADC said.

The opposition party further argued that not all the reported revenue accrues directly to the Federal Government, which only receives 52.68 per cent of statutory revenue and 15 per cent of VAT. It described the claims of revenue success as “another act in the APC and President Tinubu’s propaganda performance.”

The ADC also faulted the President’s statements on the naira–dollar exchange rate. According to the ADC, the President also made laughable statements about the exchange rate, claiming that when he took office on May 29, 2023, the dollar-to-naira rate was N1,900 to a dollar, and that it is now N1,450. This is patently false. A simple Google search will show that on the morning President Tinubu was sworn in, the naira traded at approximately N460.72 to the US dollar, and between N700 and N800 in the parallel market,” the party said.

The statement stressed that under Tinubu’s watch, the naira has lost more than 50 per cent of its value, eroding savings and worsening living costs.

On borrowing, the ADC said: “Another false claim by President Tinubu is that the government has stopped local borrowing. Only a few days ago, on August 26, 2025, the Debt Management Office announced that it raised N136.16 billion through a Federal Government bond auction.

“This is apart from the $21 billion loan hurriedly approved by the National Assembly in July without any details of its purpose, bringing the national debt stock to $120 billion or N180 trillion, the highest in Nigeria’s history. The question to ask is: if revenues are truly being met, why is this government still borrowing? The answer is simple; the revenue narrative is built on falsehood.”

The party condemned recent policies, particularly the newly introduced five per cent petrol tax and the 300 per cent hike in passport fees. It described both measures as “cruel and deeply insensitive,” especially at a time when Nigerians are still grappling with the effects of fuel subsidy removal.

“The ADC finds this tax cruel and deeply insensitive at a time when the majority of Nigerians are still reeling from the effects of fuel subsidy removal,” the statement said, adding that the passport fee hike has made Nigeria’s international travel document one of the most expensive in the world compared with income levels.

The party concluded: “This is what governance has been reduced to under President Tinubu, taxing the very survival of the people, monetizing hardship, and celebrating suffering as success. From fuel taxes to passport price hikes, every policy seems designed to push Nigerians further into poverty, while a privileged few at the top live in excess and comfort. A government that constantly takes from the people while lying to them is not governing, it is exploiting.”

ARM convener faults Tinubu’s focus on revenue amid Nigerians’ hardship

ALSO, ARM convener, Dr. Aliyu Audu Adagu, criticised President Tinubu’s administration for allegedly imposing multiple levies and taxes on Nigerians already struggling with hardship and a high cost of living.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, Audu argued that there is little to celebrate in the Federal Government’s collection of more than N20 trillion in revenue over the past eight months.

Audu, who resigned earlier this year as an aide on Public Affairs to President Tinubu, said the country requires a leader who places “dignity before digits.”

According to him: “But behind the numbers lies a bitter truth: this government is more obsessed with money accumulation than with people’s welfare. For nearly two years, contractors remain unpaid, capital projects have stalled, and small businesses are collapsing under the weight of government arrears.

“Yet Nigerians are squeezed harder with higher import duties, stealth taxes, and a punishing cost of living. Revenue rises; lives fall. The paradox is global shame. At the very moment Tinubu is boasting about historic revenues, the United States is sending emergency food aid to Nigeria, putting Africa’s largest economy in the same humanitarian category as Haiti and DR Congo.

“This is not reform. It is cruelty dressed as fiscal success. A government that boasts of revenues while its people starve has lost its moral compass. Tinubu’s obsession with accumulation mirrors the man himself, one who seeks to own everything while his people own only despair.”

Audu insisted that the government’s approach prioritizes revenue mobilisation over citizens’ welfare, leaving millions in worsening poverty despite official claims of progress.

Obi criticizes govt’s revenue claims, condemns new fuel tax

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, dismissed the Federal Government’s claims of meeting its revenue targets ahead of schedule, describing them as hollow and meaningless while millions of Nigerians continue to face hunger, unemployment, and despair.

In a statement on his verified X handle yesterday, Obi argued that celebrating fiscal milestones without improving people’s welfare only exposes the administration’s insensitivity to the suffering of citizens.

“Achieving revenue targets means nothing if the suffering masses cannot feel the impact. Today, SMEs are collapsing under debt, critical institutions are starved of funds, and retirees, men and women who built and defended this country, are still protesting for their unpaid pensions. That is the true measure of our economy, not the numbers government is parading,” he said.

Obi criticized the government for boasting of excess revenue while ordinary Nigerians endure worsening hardship. “It is shameful that those who fulfilled their obligations to the nation are reduced to begging for what is rightfully theirs, even as government celebrates collections,” he added.

The former Anambra State governor urged leaders to channel resources into productive sectors that would create jobs, sustain small businesses, and restore dignity to retired workers. “Our nation must not continue to throw its citizens into debt and despair. It is time for government to act responsibly and with integrity,” he declared.

He stressed that genuine progress would only come when governance is measured by its impact on citizens’ welfare rather than abstract fiscal achievements.

Obi also called on the Federal Government to suspend the newly announced five per cent fuel tax until Nigerians begin to experience tangible benefits from economic reforms.

In another post on his X handle, titled “When will Nigerians truly breathe?”, he argued that leadership should be about alleviating suffering rather than compounding it with additional financial burdens.

He said the timing of the tax, which will apply to all refined fossil fuel sales including petrol and diesel, was insensitive given that many Nigerians were already struggling with high transportation and living costs. “Nigerians will pay a five per cent tax when buying fuel or diesel at a time when millions can hardly afford transportation,” he wrote.

Obi further noted that despite government’s recent announcement of record revenue mobilisation, citizens had yet to see improvements in education, healthcare, or poverty reduction. He lamented the rising cost of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which he said had doubled from about N230 to N450 per unit despite earlier promises of subsidies.

“If our revenues are truly ‘excessive’ as claimed, should they not first be used to fund education, healthcare and lift Nigerians out of poverty? Why impose more taxes on citizens who are already struggling?” he asked.

He maintained that the new tax should be deferred until Nigerians begin to feel the positive impact of reforms. “Leadership is not about giving a burden, it is about reducing suffering, it is about care and compassion. This five per cent fuel tax should wait until Nigerians begin to see tangible improvements in their lives,” Obi added.

FG blames marketers for CNG price increase, denies subsidy removal

MEANWHILE, the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (PiCNG) yesterday in Abuja said market operators were responsible for the increase in the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

The agency, while denying the removal of subsidy on the initiative introduced to cushion the impact of the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), explained that pricing matters remain under the jurisdiction of relevant regulatory agencies and that no directive had been issued to alter CNG prices.

The price of the commodity had risen from N230/SCM to N450/SCM, despite long queues at stations dispensing the product.

PiCNG’s Brands and Corporate Communications Manager, Matilda Johnson, said the mandate of PiCNG, as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is to catalyse the development of the CNG mobility market and ensure the adoption of a cheaper, cleaner, and more sustainable alternative to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and diesel.

The initiative noted that the sector has already attracted close to $1 billion in private-sector investment, reflecting growing confidence in Nigeria’s CNG market.

It stressed that the recent price changes announced by some operators were “purely private-sector decisions” and not a government policy directive.

The Federal Government reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that CNG remains cheaper, cleaner, and more affordable than petrol and diesel, while pushing for deeper nationwide adoption and greater private-sector participation. (The Guardian)