African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has called for political change in Nigeria, declaring that President Bola Tinubu should leave office at the next election while criticising his administration over the country’s economic hardship.
Atiku made the call in a State of the Nation address delivered on Thursday to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary.
At the end of the address, Atiku repeatedly declared: “Tinubu must go.”
He urged Nigerians to use their votes to bring about a change in government, saying the country’s founders did not struggle for independence so that only a few Nigerians could prosper while millions merely survive.
“We have chosen a different course, peacefully and together through the power of your votes,” Atiku said.
He urged Nigerians to protect their votes and reject intimidation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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👉 JOIN WHATSAPP CHANNEL“Your vote must count as you cast it. You should not need powerful friends to make it count,” he said.
Atiku also accused the Tinubu administration of presiding over what he described as the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis, saying Nigerians were struggling to afford food, healthcare, transportation and other basic necessities.
He said the past three years under Tinubu had left families “skipping meals, delaying treatment, and borrowing to survive until payday or whenever.”
According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy without adequate protection for Nigerians had contributed to rising petrol, transportation and food prices.
“Three years later, the pain has an address in every home,” Atiku said.
He challenged Tinubu over his Independence Day speech in which the President declared that Nigeria had moved from the era of reforms into an “age of prosperity.”
“Bola, where is the prosperity?” Atiku asked.
He argued that government announcements about economic growth and falling inflation could not substitute for improvements in Nigerians’ daily lives.
“A slower rise in prices does not restore what families have lost,” he said.
Atiku also challenged Tinubu’s description of Nigeria as a patient suffering from cancer, with the administration’s reforms serving as painful treatment.
“Bola, you call Nigeria a patient with cancer. After three years of your treatment, why is it harder for Nigerians to buy food, pay for medicine, or even get to work?” he asked.
He said the government should listen to Nigerians complaining about the effects of its policies rather than dismissing their concerns.
“But when a patient cries out, a doctor listens,” Atiku said. “A patient who cannot afford to live is not proof that treatment is working.”
The former vice president also questioned the impact of the fuel subsidy removal, comparing wages and the purchasing power of Nigerians before and during the Tinubu administration.
He said a N30,000 minimum wage in early 2023 could buy about 118 litres of petrol, while a N70,000 minimum wage could buy only about 50 litres based on the figures he cited.
Atiku also cited increases in the prices of eggs and bread, arguing that the figures reflected the pressure faced by ordinary households.
“No mother struggling to feed her children is asking for morphine. No worker spending his wages on transport is addicted to subsidy,” he said.
Atiku proposed a production-based fuel subsidy tied to petrol refined in Nigeria, including fuel produced by modular refineries.
He said imported petrol would not qualify under the proposal and that the policy would be independently audited.
He also criticised the administration over borrowing and public debt.
According to Atiku, Nigeria’s public debt stood at N166.79 trillion at the end of June 2026, while the government was discussing another $1.5 billion in World Bank loans.
“Before you borrow another dollar in the people’s name, tell them what the money already borrowed has delivered,” he said.
Atiku further questioned the administration over the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract and demanded the publication of documents relating to the procurement process.
He also raised concerns over unpaid local contractors, saying some had borrowed money to execute government projects and were facing financial difficulties because they had not been paid.
“Local contractors who completed government projects remain unpaid,” Atiku said. “Many borrowed from banks to do the work and now face demands for repayment on money the government owes them. Some have lost their property. Their representatives say some have died under the financial strain.”
He also questioned the administration’s budget implementation, asking why the 2025 budget had been extended into 2026 while the 2026 budget existed alongside it.
“How many budgets must be opened at once before you can tell the country what was funded, what was completed, and what remains unpaid?” Atiku asked.
“A budget should be a timetable for delivery, not a ball passed from one year to the next.”
On security, Atiku said Nigerians were also struggling with insecurity, with armed groups killing and displacing people and farmers afraid to return to their fields.
He said a government that could neither make life affordable nor protect citizens had failed what he described as the two most important tests facing the government.
Atiku also criticised the administration over its claim that millions of Nigerians were receiving cash transfers, demanding an auditable account of the payments.
He questioned how beneficiaries, particularly in areas affected by insecurity, were identified and paid, and called for transaction records and other evidence to be made public.
The ADC candidate also referred to the recent stampede at the Niger State Government House in Minna, where three people were reported dead, and called for a full account of how the gathering was organised.
He said the incident illustrated the level of desperation among Nigerians struggling with poverty.
Atiku also criticised the government’s October 1 transport fare reduction announcement, asking commuters to identify the routes and fares affected.
“Nigerians cannot board an announcement,” he said, demanding details of the routes, fares and number of beneficiaries.
He further promised that, if elected, his administration would focus on reducing the cost of food, fuel and electricity, improving healthcare and education, and restoring security.
Atiku also pledged to strengthen electoral transparency and end election rigging.
“If elected president, I will work to end election rigging in Nigeria,” he said, adding that anyone caught buying votes or altering election results would face the law, regardless of their political affiliation.
He called on Nigerians to protect their votes and participate in the 2027 elections.
“Protect your votes and refuse intimidation,” he said.
Atiku concluded by rejecting Tinubu’s claim that Nigeria had crossed its “Red Sea” and entered a period of prosperity.
“A speech about prosperity is not prosperity,” he said.
He then repeated his call for political change: “Tinubu must go. Tinubu must go. Tinubu must go.”
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