A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Saturday, faulted the 2022 Christmas Message of President Muhammadu Buhari wherein he commended himself for making “advances” on the “economic front” and on “food security.”

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, slammed the President over his self-commendation whereas high costs of living and abysmal economic policies of his administration had pushed 130 million Nigerians into multi-dimensional poverty.

“The advances we have made so far on the economic front, especially in infrastructure; food security, anti-corruption, security, energy sufficiency, among others, will need to be built on,” Buhari said in his Christmas message on Saturday.

However, HURIWA fired back at the President, saying he has set Nigerians backwards than he met them in May 2015.

The statement read in part: “The statistics clearly show that Buhari has impoverished Nigerians with his ineptitude in all ramifications. According to the data by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s inflation rate in May 2015 when Buhari took over leadership was 9.0 per cent. But the country’s inflation rate rose to 21.47per cent in November, from 21.09m per cent recorded in October, representing the 10th consecutively monthly increase since the start of this year, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

“Food inflation also rose to 24.13 per cent in November, 2022, from 23.72 per cent recorded in the previous month. Exchange rate of the Nigeria to the dollar is now N446.63 at the official rate while at over N700 at the black market rate. Whereas it was at about N150/$1 when Buhari came into office, seven and a half years ago.

“Now, NBS data showed that over 23 million agile and active adult Nigerians are jobless just as the Federal Government has used multiple taxation to murder businesses who now relocate to neighbouring nations.

“Of note, Buhari has plunged the nation into unprecedented loans. He has approved many external loans for the Niger Republic project. Reports by the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria’s total external debt rose from $10.32bn on June 30, 2015, to $40.06bn as at June 30, 2022, over 288.18 per cent increase in seven years.

“Buhari has no moral right to tell Nigerians that he has advanced the citizens’ fortunes on the economic front because he has failed woefully. Therefore, his Christmas message to the same people his government pushed into poverty makes no meaning and is simply a mere propaganda.”