The African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of turning Nigeria into a “graveyard of businesses,” following Uber’s decision to exit the country after 12 years of operation.
Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC in a statement on Thursday, said Uber’s exit, alongside the shutdown or downsizing of several multinational companies, amounted to a “vote of no confidence” in the Tinubu administration’s economic policies.
The opposition party said it was contradictory for the government to celebrate a marginal 0.2 percentage-point improvement in GDP while businesses were closing, jobs disappearing and Nigerians struggling with rising living costs.
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“Certainly, a 0.2% growth does not justify the extreme hardship that Nigerians are suffering,” the ADC said. The party argued that poverty had risen to 63%, affecting an estimated 140 million Nigerians.
The party challenged President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to explain what the reported economic growth had done for ordinary Nigerians.
“When the President and his party say things are getting better, we expect them to tell us what has improved in the lives of Nigerians. They should tell us how much food their GDP growth has put on the tables. They should tell us which bill it has paid,” it said.
The ADC attributed Uber’s exit to the increasingly difficult business environment, particularly soaring energy, fuel and transportation costs following subsidy removal and naira devaluation.
It cited the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s reported 767 company closures, including 20 major global brands, and listed Microsoft, Jumia, Bolt Food, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, GSK, Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and PZ Cussons among companies that had shut down or scaled back operations.
“The painful truth is that Tinubu has turned Nigeria into a graveyard of businesses,” the party declared.
The ADC said each corporate exit represented lost investment, jobs and increased poverty, insisting that the government’s GDP narrative was being contradicted by worsening economic realities.
It also renewed its support for Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate’s proposal for a targeted fuel subsidy aimed at reducing production and transportation costs, lowering the cost of living and improving business profitability.
“This is precisely why the ADC presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has proposed the restoration of a targeted fuel subsidy to bring down the cost of fuel, transportation and production,” the party said.
