The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has faulted the Federal Government for what it described as a deliberate misrepresentation of recent remarks by the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the state of Nigeria’s economy.
According to the ADC, while government officials and their media surrogates have amplified only her comment that credited the Tinubu administration with “stabilizing the economy,” they have deliberately ignored her more urgent call for measures to grow the economy and build social safety nets for millions of Nigerians struggling under current reforms.
In a statement issued on Friday, August 15, 2025, by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused the government of celebrating headlines instead of facing the harsh realities confronting citizens.
“The effusive celebration of the headlines reflects a government in desperate need of validation, rather than one focused on the job at hand,” the statement read.
The ADC stressed that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s comments were not an endorsement of government policies but a subtle warning about the toll of current reforms on ordinary Nigerians.
“Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s recent comments on President Tinubu and the Nigerian economy have been seized upon by government officials and their media allies as if their scandalous implementation of hard reforms, which have condemned the majority of Nigerians to absolute poverty and destroyed millions of jobs, had received endorsement by the oracle herself. This is not correct,” the statement said.
It added that the WTO chief understands that true economic stability must translate into real growth, job creation, and guaranteed minimum standards of living.
“Dr. Okonjo-Iweala knows that a stable economy is one that is growing in real terms, led by jobs and productivity. She knows that a stable economy is one that is able to guarantee minimum standards of living for the people. She knows that economic stability that leaves the majority in grinding poverty is meaningless,” the ADC noted.
The party insisted that what Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was actually urging the government to address were the lack of growth, absence of job creation, and the widespread suffering caused by what it termed President Tinubu’s “ill-conceived and badly implemented reforms.”
“These are the issues she wanted the government to address,” the ADC concluded.
