ADC: Nigeria’s economy has collapsed, rebasing can’t mask APC’s failures

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for celebrating Nigeria’s rebased gross domestic product (GDP), describing the move as “economic cosmetics” that fails to address the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s national publicity secretary, said the federal government was using the rebased GDP figures as a public relations tool to mask deeper economic failures and widening poverty.

“Ordinarily, GDP rebasing is a neutral statistical tool to reflect structural changes in the economy. But in the hands of this government, it has become a mirror, exposing the economic decay and leadership failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the years,” the statement read.

“Nigeria’s GDP, which stood at $509 billion in 2014 after a previous rebasing, has now collapsed to $244 billion. In a single decade, Nigeria has fallen from Africa’s largest economy to fourth place, now behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria.

“This is not merely a technical recalibration, it is a blunt indictment of a government that has failed to grow what it inherited, let alone transform it.

“While the nominal GDP in naira terms has increased to ₦373 trillion, the figure is largely illusory. It is the product of a steep and poorly managed currency devaluation that has shrunk national wealth and stripped Nigerians of their purchasing power.”

The party said despite government officials touting a bigger GDP number, most citizens were worse off, with food inflation, unemployment, and poor infrastructure defining their daily struggles.

“Economic growth is not about dressed up numbers that make the government look good. Economic growth means nothing if it leaves majority of the people behind and is not felt on the dining table, and in the marketplace,” Abdullahi said.

“The truth is that this government is not trying to fix the economy. It is trying to reframe it, relying on statistical manipulation rather than policy substance. Nigerians are not fooled. Ask any citizen whether their life has improved since President Tinubu assumed office two years ago, and the answer will be a resounding no.”

“Yet, the APC-led federal government wants us to believe that the results of this rebasing exercise is a sign of prosperity.”

The ADC also accused the federal government of using the new GDP figure to justify further borrowing, while failing to practise fiscal discipline.

“The rebasing might make the debt-to-GDP ratio look better on paper, but it does not create room for more reckless borrowing,” the party said.

“What Nigeria needs is fiscal discipline, something this government has consistently failed to demonstrate, as seen in its bloated, ill-prioritised budgets and wasteful spending amidst a sea of suffering.”

“Foreign direct investment is not flowing in. Investor confidence remains low. Public hospitals are still empty, and schools remain underfunded. State governments are still dependent on federal allocations, and many cannot even pay salaries. What then is the value of a rebased GDP that does not impact lives?”

According to the ADC, the Tinubu government has failed to deliver on its promise of diversifying the economy and has instead relied on shallow, headline-driven reforms.

The party warned that no amount of statistical adjustment could solve the country’s underlying problems.