The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of deceiving Nigerians with false revenue claims.

It cited a N21.22 trillion shortfall between the 2025 budget projection and actual collections, despite the government’s claim of meeting revenue targets.

The party also condemned the new 5% petrol tax and the 300% hike in passport fees, calling them cruel policies that punish struggling Nigerians and push more people into poverty, while the government celebrates revenue collection.

The statement, signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, questioned why the government continues to borrow despite its claims of record revenue.

The statement read: “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.

“Nigerians will recall that when the 2025 budget was passed, it projected a total revenue of N41.81 trillion. Yet today, the Federal Government is celebrating the mobilization of N20.59 trillion, leaving a gaping shortfall of N21.22 trillion. Put in perspective, this would mean an average revenue of N3.48 trillion per month, totaling 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.

“Even more troubling is the fact that not all the revenue in question flows to the Federal Government. The Federal Government only receives 52.68% of statutory revenue, while its share of VAT is just 15%. So, even by the most optimistic assumptions, the numbers being paraded are unrealistic. When measured on a pro-rata basis for January to August or against the full-year target, the shortfall becomes even more glaring. This exposes the hollowness of the claims by government and also reveals these so-called revenue achievements for what they truly are, another act in the APC and President Tinubu’s propaganda performance.

“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 reality is that under President Tinubu’s watch, the naira has lost more than 50% of its value, wiping out savings and leaving ordinary Nigerians to bear the brunt through skyrocketing food prices, soaring rents, and suffocating transport costs.

“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.

“One thing is clear to all Nigerians: instead of improving lives, this government has chosen to punish the very people it was elected to serve through policy choices that allow it to claim economic progress while condemning the majority to abject poverty. For avoidance of doubt, despite all claims of economic stability, Nigeria remains the poverty capital of the world. This fact alone should humble any serious government. Instead, the Tinubu administration has chosen to compound the misery, as evidenced by the recently introduced 5% petrol tax.

“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. Regardless of the economic motives behind this tax, what is clear is that this government simply does not care about the people. The least Nigerians deserve are interventions to mitigate the impact of subsidy removal, not an additional tax that will further burden them.

“As if this were not enough, the government has also increased the cost of obtaining a Nigerian international passport by 300%, making it one of the most expensive in the world. In the United Kingdom, a passport costs just 5% of the minimum monthly wage. In Nigeria, it now costs 143% of the minimum wage.

“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. Nigeria cannot continue to function on the APC’s endless propaganda mixed with everyday punishments.” (Daily Trust)

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