Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate Adebayo Adewole has called on President Bola Tinubu to take full accountability for Nigeria’s escalating poverty levels and resign, dismissing the administration's newly introduced 90-day economic action plan as ineffective political posturing.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Monday, Adewole argued that after three and a half years in office, the current administration has failed to provide sustainable solutions to the country's macroeconomic challenges, asserting that multidimensional poverty has worsened significantly since May 2023.

Criticizing the timing and substance of the government's short-term initiative—which encompasses measures on food affordability, tax harmonisation, and household support—Adewole maintained that fundamental structural issues cannot be resolved within a 90-day window.

"So President Tinubu has no excuse than to hold himself accountable. And if he doesn’t have any new programme... the only effective solution that the president can bring forward, which would deal with poverty, cost of living in 90 days, is to have a 90-minute discussion with his cabinet and resign, so that another person can give it a try," Adewole stated.

Accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of relying on superficial handouts rather than addressing underlying economic drivers, Adewole remarked:

"In the medical laboratory of the APC, every problem in Nigeria, insecurity, bad roads, poor education, no health care, can be cured by a bag of rice."

Presenting the SDP’s counter-strategy, Adewole outlined a comprehensive one-year agenda focused on bolstering agricultural output, strengthening national security, expanding employment opportunities, and lowering domestic energy costs to improve citizen disposable income.

On energy policy, the opposition candidate advocated for a clear separation between international export crude governed by Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quotas and domestic crude supply, arguing that local refining feedstock should be entirely decoupled from export caps to guarantee national energy security.

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