The Labour Party governorship candidate in the 2023 general election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has expressed concerns that the economic reforms introduced by the current administration are favouring only a select few.
PulseNets learned that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has implemented several economic measures since assuming office in May 2023. These include the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, Nigeria’s currency. Recently, the President reiterated his commitment to sustaining these reforms at all costs.
However, Rhodes-Vivour questioned the equity of these policies, highlighting the growing disparity between the suffering masses and a privileged minority.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, he told PulseNets, “The people are experiencing unprecedented hardship. Today, over 70 per cent of people’s income is spent on transportation and food.”
“They’ve not even started to think about how they can afford accommodation,” he added.
Rhodes-Vivour also criticized what he described as a culture of wastefulness and extravagance in governance, which he argued contradicts the government’s narrative of economic reform.
“We have a situation where there is a culture of wastefulness, and extravagance that does not reflect the dire economic situation that the same President is pushing out that needs to be reformed,” he said.
According to Rhodes-Vivour, the benefits of these reforms appear to be limited to a specific group. “The only people that seem to be benefitting from these reforms are maybe the bankers, the people in government, and the President’s friends,” he told PulseNets.
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“How many Nigerians can say they are benefitting from any reform right now?” he queried.
PulseNets reported that the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira have significantly contributed to skyrocketing inflation, worsening the economic situation for many Nigerians.
