The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of “entering panic mode” over the worsening cost-of-living crisis, following the Federal Government’s renewed push to expand Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transportation and reduce fares ahead of the 2027 elections.
The opposition party described the move as “three years too late,” arguing that cheaper CNG-powered buses should have been deployed much earlier when the removal of petrol subsidy sent transportation costs soaring across the country.
The ADC made the accusation in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, following an emergency meeting between Tinubu and state governors on measures to reduce transport fares and cushion the impact of rising costs.
The party questioned the timing of the intervention, particularly coming after its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, made the high cost of living and targeted fuel subsidy major issues in the political debate.
“If CNG buses can provide cheaper transportation today, why were they not rapidly deployed when Nigerians first began to pay the heavy price for their wrong-headed subsidy removal policy?” the party asked.
According to the ADC, the government’s latest actions suggest that it had the capacity to reduce the hardship caused by its economic policies but failed to deploy such measures when Nigerians needed them most.
The opposition party said the timing of the CNG expansion was “particularly revealing,” alleging that the government only began treating transport costs as an emergency after Atiku’s proposal for a targeted subsidy changed the political conversation.
“Why did it take Atiku’s subsidy plan for this government to suddenly start running helter-skelter and to realise the need to bring down the cost of transportation?” the ADC asked.
The party said Nigerians could distinguish between policies genuinely designed to improve their welfare and measures introduced mainly because of electoral pressure.
“For three years, Nigerians complained about transport fares, food prices and collapsing purchasing power. The government told them to endure. Now that the election is approaching, the same government has suddenly discovered that transportation is too expensive and government intervention is necessary.
“That is not leadership. That is cynical politics,” the statement said.
The ADC insisted that if the government could introduce measures to reduce transport costs now, similar interventions could have been implemented earlier to cushion the impact of petrol subsidy removal.
“No doubt, if these interventions are possible now, they were possible,” the party said.
It further accused the administration of responding to growing public dissatisfaction over security, unemployment and the rising cost of living.
“A president who truly cares would not wait for three years and an approaching election before treating the cost of transportation as an emergency,” the party said.
The ADC concluded that the latest intervention was driven more by political pressure ahead of the 2027 election than by a sudden concern for Nigerians’ welfare.
“One thing is clear, President Tinubu is not suddenly responding to the suffering of Nigerians. He is responding to ADC and Atiku; he is responding to the impending reality of the 2027 election,” the party alleged.
It accused the administration of failing to adequately address insecurity, job creation and the rising cost of living, insisting that Nigerians would judge the government by its performance when they head to the polls in 2027.
