Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has accused the Federal Government of relying on economic figures that do not reflect the living conditions of Nigerians.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Sowore said increased revenue and improved economic indicators had failed to translate into better living standards, stronger businesses or greater prosperity for ordinary Nigerians.
Sowore said the government was effectively presenting figures that ignored the impact of the naira’s declining value on citizens.
“It is not difficult for people to come and say, well, taxes have increased revenue. But what you should be asking is, if you were collecting taxes in lets say 2025 or 2022, and the volume is still the same. Or maybe you get more volume. But the value of your currency has gone down. You’re not making revenue. You’re just making up numbers.”
He said the same pattern had occurred under previous administrations, where economic reforms and favourable indicators did not necessarily improve the lives of Nigerians.
“We did it under Jonathan. We rebased our economy. It’s now bigger than that of South Africa. Now South Africa is bigger than our arm.”
Sowore argued that the real measure of economic progress should be how Nigerians and businesses are faring, rather than government revenue figures alone.
“All of this has not translated to the poor person. Or an average Nigerian, not even the poor person. Businesses are really much gone. Closed down industries. People are poor.”
He said the government should show tangible improvements in public services and the private sector to demonstrate that its economic policies were working.
“What we’re asking them to produce are the wealthier people in society. The schools that are being built. The roads that you have constructed after you removed subsidy. And how your people are faring, how your businesses are faring.”
“Since they love to talk about private sector a lot, we want to see the development in the private sector. That’s what about employment. That’s what about a new fresh lease of life for people.”
Sowore also criticised the focus on GDP and tax figures, arguing that such indicators do not adequately capture Nigerians’ standard of living.
“You know, I know what they are trying to do. It’s mental. They want to do a mental adjustment, you know, on the psyche of the people. To say, you know, you are feeling better because our GDP ratio is higher.”
“We’re talking about GDP to tax. But what about GDP to, you know, standard of living? Nobody’s talking about that.”
He said the economic situation showed that government figures were not enough to demonstrate genuine improvement in Nigerians’ lives.
“That’s why I said it’s a repetition of the same old explanation. They are all economic failures.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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