…Says most Nigerians still living in multi-dimensional poverty

By PETER ANOSIKE

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Nelson Ahamefula Akuma, has said that the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deceiving Nigerians with false statistics.

According to him, that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing while most Nigerians are still living in poverty and squalor does not make any meaning.

Recall that the National Bureau of Statistics had revealed in its Q2 2025 GDP Report that Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23 per cent (year-on-year) in the second quarter of 2025.

According to the report which was released on Monday on its website, the figure showed a significant improvement compared to 3.48 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2024 and the 3.13 per cent recorded in Q1 2025.

Reacting to the report, Akuma wondered why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who once asked, “Na statistics we go chop?”, is now trying to force statistics down the throat of Nigerians.

According to him, the only way to measure a government that is doing well is to look at the quality of life of its citizens and not the GDP of a country.

However, he said that as things currently stand, Nigerians don’t even have a life, let alone quality one.

His words: “The APC government wants to deceive Nigerians with useless statistics. They are talking about growth instead of development. That simply show that they don’t understand basic economics. If they feel that they are doing well, let them tell us the per person capital GDP of an average Nigerian. As I speak, Nigerians are experiencing worsening cost of living which has led to worsening hardship. Most of Nigerians don’t know where or when their next meal would come. They cannot sleep with their two eyes closed. So, what is the use of growth in GDP for them.”

Akuma said that government is about the welfare of the people and that any statistics that is been put out without people been able to feed themselves, does not make any sense.

He said that what would take Nigeria out of its current pitiable situation is turning our huge population into productivity.

According to him, instead making Nigeria a productive country, the APC government is boosting with borrowing and squandering.

He said that the ruling party should know that the statistics they are pushing up and down does not reflection the reality on ground in the country since the price of essential commodities are still not within the affordability of most Nigerians.