…Says Nigerians are still multidimensionally poor
…Faults subsidy removal, says policy deepened hardship
By Juliet Umeh
Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, has urged the Federal Government to stop relying on rising revenue and other macroeconomic figures to justify its economic reforms, saying such statistics have yet to translate into improved living conditions for Nigerians.
Sowore, who spoke during an interview on Arise Television, argued that the real test of the administration’s economic policies should be their impact on the standard of living, businesses, employment, education, security and wages.
He said Nigerians should not be told that the economy was improving simply because government revenue, tax collection or the tax-to-GDP ratio had increased.
According to him, “what matters to citizens is whether they can afford basic necessities and whether the reforms are creating jobs, supporting businesses and improving public services.
“They are bringing out numbers as if we are foolish people. They want to do a mental adjustment on the psyche of the people. They say you are feeling better because our GDP-to-tax ratio is higher.
“We are talking about GDP to tax, but what about GDP to standard of living? Nobody is talking about that. That’s why I said it is a repetition of the same old explanation of their economic failures,” he said.
Sowore said the government should demonstrate the practical benefits of its reforms by pointing to new industries, jobs, schools, roads and other infrastructure that had improved the lives of Nigerians.
“What we are asking them to produce are the wealthier people in society, the schools that have been built, the roads that you have constructed after you remove subsidy, and how your people are faring, how your businesses are faring,” he said.
The AAC candidate said despite claims of improved government revenue, Nigerians were grappling with rising costs and declining purchasing power, while many businesses were struggling to survive.
He said: “Businesses are pretty much gone. You have closed down industries. Your people are poor. We are not just talking about poor people. We are talking about people who are multidimensionally poor.”
Sowore also faulted the removal of fuel subsidy, arguing that the policy had worsened the economic burden on ordinary Nigerians.
According to him, subsidy was not necessarily a bad economic policy, noting that governments around the world provide various forms of subsidies to protect vulnerable citizens and support strategic sectors.
“There is no country in the world that doesn’t subsidise their poor. In fact, the people that get the most subsidy in Nigeria are not the poor. It’s the rich,” he said.
He further alleged that wealthy individuals and businesses benefited from government waivers and other incentives, while the poor bore the immediate consequences of the removal of fuel subsidy.
“All the people who bring in foreign goods and services, go and look at their waivers, their customs. You know who is getting a real subsidy compared to the people who are getting from each gallon of petrol that was taken away from them,” he said.
Sowore argued that the removal of subsidy, combined with other economic policies, had contributed to the depreciation of the naira and worsening living conditions.
“The moment you remove the subsidy, look at where your economy tanked. Your naira also went down the toilet,” he said.
He called for a fundamental change in Nigeria’s approach to economic management, saying government policies should be designed to create opportunities for the majority rather than concentrate wealth and benefits among a privileged few.
Sowore said the government should also prioritise measures that would make the minimum wage meaningful, strengthen businesses and improve access to education, healthcare, security and other essential services.
According to him, economic reforms should ultimately be felt in the pockets and homes of ordinary Nigerians.
“Optics don’t feed people. Propaganda can’t feed people. People are dying in this country of hunger and starvation. People can’t afford to live,” he said.
The AAC presidential candidate maintained that the government could not claim economic success while millions of Nigerians continued to struggle to meet their basic needs.
He said: “We must stop deceiving ourselves. We need fresh ideas and fresh people who can make this country work.”
Sowore also called for greater accountability in the implementation of economic reforms, insisting that government must provide evidence of how increased revenue was being converted into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens.
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