Shettima’s ‘Caracas’ claim indicts APC, Buhari — ADC campaign

ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADCPCC) has said Vice President Kashim Shettima’s claim that President Bola Tinubu saved Nigeria from economic collapse amounts to an indictment of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The council said if Nigeria was heading towards ‘Caracas’ before Tinubu assumed office, the APC must accept responsibility, having controlled the Federal Government for eight years under Buhari.

The position was contained in a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Sunday.

Ologbondiyan said the APC could not disown its record under Buhari while Tinubu, who is seeking a second term on its platform, had repeatedly defended the former administration and promised to build on its legacy.

“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,” he said.

Ologbondiyan said Nigerians were less concerned about political narratives than food and basic necessities, citing deteriorating roads, electricity, public institutions and the rising cost of living.

“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.

Rejecting Shettima’s description of Nigeria as merely heading towards a ‘Caracas’ scenario, he said Nigerians were already experiencing 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 accused the Tinubu administration of worsening hunger, inflation, naira devaluation, insecurity, unemployment and the cost of living.

“President Tinubu has not saved Nigeria from collapse; he has pushed the country deeper into economic ruin,” he said.

The ADC council also faulted Shettima’s promise to deploy 10,600 electric tricycles, 300 buses and electric taxis under an e-logistics programme, recalling the administration’s earlier promise that transportation costs would fall by October 1, 2026.

It urged the APC to acknowledge the challenges facing Nigerians, saying the ADC remained committed to providing an alternative government.