The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plunging Nigeria into poverty, insecurity, and economic retrogression, insisting the country has become “a shadow of itself” under the ruling party.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE TV on Wednesday night, PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said Nigerians had woken up to the “false promises” of the APC after years of hardship under its leadership.
“It’s a very sad narrative for the APC at this time when Nigeria is at the receiving end of economic downturn, political mistrust, civil unrest, untold insecurity and rooftop inflation. And that is when the APC will be coming to tell Nigerians, or to want to, as usual, attract sympathy. I don’t think there’s any Nigerian left to believe in the APC today,” Abdullahi said.
He argued that while Nigerians may have been “hoodwinked” between 2015 and 2019, by the end of 2023 it had become clear that the APC could not be trusted to govern.
According to him, PDP left office at a time when Nigeria was ranked the third fastest-growing economy in the world, behind only Qatar and China, and the fastest in Africa.
“That was a time Nigerians could literally call Nigeria a country and one they were proud of,” he said.
Abdullahi also highlighted PDP’s concession of power in 2015 as a major democratic milestone, contrasting it with what he described as APC’s desperation to cling to power.
“If you choose not only to look at our concession of power in 2015 as one of the greatest achievements to advance democracy, then you’ll be quick to ask the APC what they are doing with the desperation that we saw in 2019, which was replicated in 2023, and which is already underway as we head towards 2027,” he added.
On security, Abdullahi said APC’s 2015 campaign promise to restore peace had collapsed under reality. He recalled that during PDP’s tenure, insecurity was limited to Boko Haram activities in parts of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, while terms like “banditry” were unheard of.
“At the time we lost power, there was nothing to describe as banditry. Nobody knew that word, except if you read it in the dictionary. Today, that is what we are contending with,” he said.
He linked the recent killing of ARISE News anchor Somtochukwu Maduagwu in Abuja to APC’s failure on security.
“That reminds me to commiserate with ARISE and Nigerians for losing Somi just 24 hours ago. You can see how a promise was cut short by the people who claimed they would restore security in the country.”
Abdullahi also stressed that Nigeria today has not only suffered economic retrogression but has also earned the unfortunate title of “poverty headquarters of the world.”
But countering him on the programme, APC chieftain Niyi Akinsiju insisted Nigeria was making measurable progress under President Bola Tinubu, particularly through reforms aimed at stabilising the economy and strengthening governance.
“We have come a long way from 1960, either in terms of our attainment as a country, united, in terms of our attainment for how impactful the educational system has been, the numbers of universities we have, our institutions, the number of secondary schools, and how many Nigerians have gone through the walls of educational institutions,” he said.
He noted that progress had also been recorded in healthcare delivery and per capita income, stressing that Tinubu’s administration was forging “a new form of governance and economic relationship between the government and the people” to improve the well-being of Nigerians.
Defending the government’s economic reforms, he said the President had already delivered on key milestones, including improved revenue-to-debt service ratios, increased non-oil exports, stronger manufacturing output and positioning Nigeria as a net exporter in some sectors.
“The fundamentals of the economy are getting stronger. The foreign exchange rate is getting much nearer the reality of what the rate should be, and it has created macroeconomic stability.
“This is not just anecdotal; it is based on empirical evidence. International rating agencies have endorsed the reforms, passing a vote of confidence in the President’s policies,” he said.
According to him, the reforms are creating “a growing link” between macroeconomic stability and improvements in the daily lives of citizens, which he described as the pathway to long-term prosperity.
