African Democratic Congress (ADC) Vice-Presidential candidate, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has thrown down the gauntlet to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic team, challenging it to an open debate over the administration’s economic policies and their impact on Nigerians.

Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, said he was prepared to confront any member of the Federal Government’s economic team over the removal of fuel subsidy, which he blamed for worsening transportation costs and deepening the economic hardship confronting Nigerians.

He made the challenge on Saturday at an ADC town hall meeting in Calabar, Cross River, where he launched a blistering attack on the Tinubu administration’s handling of the economy.

According to him, while the President has repeatedly presented subsidy removal as evidence of political courage, the policy amounted to recklessness because it was implemented without adequate consultation, preparation or measures to protect Nigerians from its immediate consequences.

“There’s a small line between courage and recklessness,” Amaechi said, arguing that the consequences of major economic decisions must be carefully considered before they are implemented.

He said the government ought to have consulted economists, political scientists and ordinary Nigerians before taking such a far-reaching decision.

“If I were him, I would have sat down with economists, with political scientists, and with some Nigerians and asked them, what do we do?” he said.

Amaechi further alleged that the hardship occasioned by the subsidy removal disproportionately affected Nigerians who did not support Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.

He claimed that the administration’s policy direction suggested that those who did not vote for the President were being made to bear the brunt of his economic decisions.

“So when the president says, ‘I have the courage, and I removed the subsidy,’ to the president, it did not matter. You are nobody. Do you know why you are nobody? Because you didn’t vote for him,” he alleged.

“He was very angry with you for not voting for him. So he decided to punish you for not voting for him,” Amaechi added.

The former minister said the removal of subsidy had triggered a chain reaction across the economy, particularly through rising transportation costs, which he said had further pushed up the prices of goods and services.

He maintained that the Federal Government should have introduced adequate palliatives and other economic safeguards before withdrawing the subsidy.

But Amaechi’s most direct challenge came when he offered to defend his position in an open debate with the President’s economic team.

“Even though I’m not an economist, I’m still ready for a debate with anyone they will bring forward,” he declared.

The ADC candidate’s challenge came as he sought to portray the opposition party as prepared to confront the Federal Government on economic policies ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He insisted that presidential decisions should not be judged merely by the boldness with which they are announced, but by their consequences on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians (Nigerian Tribune)