Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has blamed the opposition for fueling protests in some cities over the rising cost of living for political reasons.
Social media platforms on Monday had tens of videos from protests in Minna, Niger State, and the city of Kano, both in Northern Nigeria.
The ruling party’s spokesman Felix Morka in a statement said the protests in both northern states were “orchestrated and coordinated effort to instigate unrest and undermine the government”.
The protesters took over major roads and blocked vehicular movements in the cities. They carried placards to register their grief over the rising cost of living, urging the government to help ameliorate their suffering.
The cost of living in Nigeria has tripled in the last eight months. Occasioned by President Bola Tinubu’s removal of petrol subsidy, food prices, and transportation costs have been the major indicators of hard times for 46% of Nigeria’s 200 million population living in poverty.
Nigeria’s inflation figures reached a record 27-year high in 27 years in December 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Consumer inflation rose for the 12th straight month in December to 28.92% year on year from November’s 28.20%.
Former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar and leader of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said Tinubu has demonstrated a poor response to Nigeria’s economic challenges and is setting the stage for a prolonged and deeper domestic economic crisis.
“His economic policies, drawn from a so-called renewed hope agenda, are ironically dashing hopes, creating pain and causing despair,” Atiku tweeted in early February.
Morka, however, disagree with the opposition leader. He described the economic situation in Nigeria as “transient pains” of important reforms that are crucial to economic reality being implemented by Tinubu who took over from former President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2023.
“It behoves us as good citizens of our beloved country to stand fast with our government in this noble stride. In due time, these policy reforms will yield enduring beneficial transformation of the material conditions of life in the country,” Morka said.
