The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has again tackled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his economic policies.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, on Tuesday, Atiku said Tinubu could not build a $1 trillion economy by making Nigerians poorer.

According to Atiku, contrary to the Tinubu administration’s “statistically improved macroeconomic indicators”, the majority of Nigerians have faced the pressure of extreme poverty over the last three years.

“You cannot build a $1 trillion economy by making your own people poorer.

“That is not how prosperous nations are built. Nigeria must stop behaving like a loading bay for raw materials,” Atiku said.

His comment came as Nigeria’s recent inflation rate eased to 15.39 per cent in August 2026, while raw material exports rose by 106 per cent, from N1.86 trillion in the first half of 2025 to N3.84 trillion in the first half of 2026, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.