A fresh political dispute over Nigeria’s economic condition at the start of the Tinubu administration is putting renewed attention on what the government inherited in 2023 and how its performance should be assessed three years later.

Vice President Kashim Shettima said on Saturday that Nigeria was close to economic collapse when President Bola Tinubu took office, citing foreign reserves of less than 3.9 billion dollars and describing the country as being on the road to “Caracas.” He attributed the subsequent change to decisions including petrol subsidy removal and the unification of multiple foreign exchange rates.

The Vice President made the remarks in Lagos after meeting President Tinubu and acknowledged that Nigerians are still experiencing economic hardship. He said the Federal Government was working on measures intended to ease the pressure, including planned transport and logistics interventions.

Those comments have drawn a response from the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council. Its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, argued that if the economy was already heading towards collapse in 2023, responsibility for that condition cannot be separated from the APC administration that governed Nigeria for eight years under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The ADC says the government should therefore be judged not only by the condition it says it inherited, but also by what Nigerians have experienced since 2023. The opposition campaign council cited rising living costs, insecurity, unemployment and pressure on basic services as areas where it believes the administration has fallen short.

The exchange also comes as the Federal Government prepares additional interventions. Shettima said 10,600 electric tricycles, alongside 300 buses and e-taxis, are expected to be deployed in the North-East, while an e-logistics programme is planned for the North-West.

With the 2027 elections approaching, the competing positions place the economic record of successive APC administrations at the centre of public debate. The government is pointing to difficult decisions and planned interventions, while the ADC is asking voters to assess those claims against their present economic realities.