African Democratic Congress Slams Tinubu Over Uber Exit

The African Democratic Congress criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's economic policies on Thursday following reports that Uber has exited Nigeria after 12 years of operation. The opposition party described the country as a "graveyard of businesses," arguing that Uber's departure, alongside the scaling back of multinationals like Microsoft, GlaxoSmithKline, and Unilever, represents a "vote of no confidence" in the administration's capacity to manage the economy.

The party attributed the deteriorating business climate to the removal of fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the naira, which they claim caused fuel prices to surge by up to 1,700 percent. The ADC dismissed government celebrations of a 0.2 percentage-point GDP growth, stating such a figure does not justify the "extreme hardship" faced by Nigerians, including a poverty rate they claim has reached 63 percent.

To address these trends, the ADC promoted a proposal from its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to restore a targeted fuel subsidy to lower production and transportation costs. The party cited a report from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria indicating that 767 manufacturing companies have shut down or ceased operations.