The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADCPCC) has taken a swipe at Vice President Kashim Shettima’s claim that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu saved Nigeria from economic collapse, arguing that the current administration cannot disown the record of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The council said Shettima’s assertion that Nigeria was heading towards “Caracas” before Tinubu assumed office was an indictment of the Buhari administration, which, like the Tinubu government, was elected on the platform of the APC.
The reaction was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan.
Ologbondiyan said Shettima, in an attempt to defend what he described as the abysmal failures of the Tinubu administration, had resorted to rewriting the history of the APC.
He said if Nigeria was indeed heading towards economic collapse before Tinubu took office, as claimed by the Vice President, then the APC must accept responsibility for the situation because it controlled the Federal Government for eight years under Buhari.
“Vice President Shettima’s statement is self-indicting. If Nigeria was heading to Caracas under Buhari, it means Buhari and the APC deceived Nigerians for eight years.
“And if that is the case, why should Nigerians believe Tinubu, who is of the same APC stock and was a major promoter and defender of the Buhari administration?” Ologbondiyan queried.
He said the APC could not disown its own record, recalling that Tinubu had repeatedly defended the Buhari administration and assured Nigerians that his government would build on Buhari’s legacy.
According to him, the attempts by Tinubu and Shettima to distance the present administration from Buhari amount to an admission that the APC has failed Nigerians.
“But Nigerians do not know Buhari as an individual; Nigerians know APC. It is the APC, on whose platform President Tinubu is seeking a second term, that has failed Nigerians for almost 12 years and is undeserving of another four years,” he said.
Ologbondiyan accused the APC government of failing across several sectors, citing the state of roads, electricity, public institutions and the rising cost of living.
He said the immediate concern of Nigerians was not political propaganda but access to affordable food and basic necessities.
“Our roads are no longer motorable, there is no electricity, our institutions have collapsed. But what concerns ordinary Nigerians today is food, food and food, not baseless propaganda.
“President Tinubu has not saved Nigeria from collapse; he has pushed the country deeper into economic ruin, marked by unprecedented hunger, hyperinflation, naira devaluation, insecurity, mass unemployment and excruciating cost of living,” he said.
The ADC campaign council spokesman further argued that Nigerians were already experiencing what Shettima described as the “Caracas” scenario, not merely heading towards it.
“Nigerians are not heading to Caracas; under the APC, Nigerians are already living the Caracas experience in their own country,” Ologbondiyan said.
He also faulted Shettima’s promise to deploy 10,600 electric tricycles, 300 buses and electric taxis under an e-logistics programme “in the coming weeks”, describing it as another promise that Nigerians should treat with caution.
Ologbondiyan reminded the Vice President of the administration’s earlier promise that transportation costs would come down by October 1, 2026, asking Nigerians to judge the government by its delivery rather than fresh promises.
The ADCPCC urged Shettima and the APC to stop what it described as attempts to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians through revisionist narratives and instead acknowledge the challenges confronting the country.
The council also assured Nigerians that the ADC remained committed to providing what it described as a credible political alternative capable of rescuing the country from APC rule.
Ologbondiyan called on Nigerians to unite behind the quest for a government that would make life more affordable and restore economic security and confidence in the country.
