Atiku Abubakar challenges Tinubu administration on cash transfer program figures

Atiku highlighted a contradiction between the government's earlier claim of reaching 15 million vulnerable households and a more recent figure of "slightly over 10 million households." Through a statement from his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, urged the Federal Government to clarify the whereabouts of the 5 million households missing from the latest figure. He called for the publication of detailed payment records, including verified beneficiary households, payment tranches, state-by-state distribution, failed transactions, and reversals.

Atiku's criticism comes as the Tinubu administration promotes social protection measures to address the rising cost of living, exacerbated by the removal of the petrol subsidy. He argued that the government should focus on reducing underlying cost pressures rather than expanding palliative recipients. Atiku accused the government of worsening financial pressure on households through increased fuel, transport, food, and energy costs, and contrasted this with his proposed intervention in the domestic petroleum value chain to lower fuel and transportation costs at the source.

He stated that his approach would tackle the causes of rising expenses, unlike the current admi