Atiku to Tinubu: Stop misleading Nigerians with fuel price comparisons

By Omeiza Ajayi

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has hit back at President Bola Tinubu over remarks made in Bayelsa State, in which the president appeared to justify the rising cost of living in Nigeria by comparing domestic fuel prices with those in other African countries.

In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the opposition accused the president of presenting a “misleading” and “gravely distorted” picture of the economic hardship facing ordinary Nigerians.

Shaibu argued that singling out fuel prices as a measure of economic well-being, while ignoring purchasing power, income levels, and the broader cost of living, either reflected a “fundamental misunderstanding of economic realities” or amounted to a deliberate attempt to deflect from policy failures.

“Nigerians don’t live on petrol — they live on income,” he declared.

While acknowledging that petrol prices in Nigeria may appear lower than in countries such as Kenya and South Africa, Shaibu said the comparison breaks down entirely when set against actual earnings.

Kenya’s GDP per capita, the statement noted, is nearly double that of Nigeria. According to him, a minimum wage earner in Nairobi takes home the equivalent of approximately ₦170,000 — more than twice Nigeria’s national minimum wage of ₦70,000 — meaning Nigerians earn significantly less while facing a cost of living that the statement described as higher than Kenya’s.

Shaibu also criticised Nigeria’s rigid single-tier national minimum wage, contrasting it with Kenya’s tiered wage structure, which adjusts pay to reflect cost-of-living differences across cities and regions.

This failure to account for urban cost disparities, he argued, compounds the economic burden on millions of Nigerians.

Shaibu called it “deeply disappointing” that at a moment when citizens expected empathy and decisive leadership, the president had instead opted for “statistical convenience.”

He warned that a government relying on selective comparisons while its citizens contend with rising poverty, inflation and declining living standards risks appearing “not only out of touch, but indifferent.”

Shaibu urged the Tinubu administration to “confront the full scope of the economic crisis it has created, rather than seek refuge in arguments that collapse under the weight of facts.”

“Nigerians are not asking for comparisons. They are demanding relief,” he stated.