Nigerian political activist and former governorship candidate for Lagos state, Funso Doherty, has blamed the country’s rising cost of living on excessive government spending in the past.
Speaking during an interview on News Central TV’s Breakfast Central on Tuesday, Doherty criticised the government’s handling of citizens’ welfare during difficult times.
“Remember, this is when the average person is asked to make unbelievable sacrifices. They have seen their cost of living skyrocket and go through the roof. People have seen the cost of petrol go from, you know, a hundred and something to, you know, a thousand, right? Everybody’s experiencing the cost of living issue that we’re having.
“And the reason why we have these issues is because of profligate government spending in the past. That is why people are going through this issue now. And so in a time when people are in crunch, to continue with this kind of action, this kind of behaviour in government, I think is unconscionable,” Doherty said.
When asked about criticisms of the PDP’s past governance, Doherty dismissed any doubts about his moral authority to challenge the current administration. He argued that the APC, which has been in power since 2015, should be held accountable for the worsening economic conditions.
“There are a few people who might also mention, you know, that, maybe yourself or your party, you know, doesn’t have the moral standing to challenge some of these things being done by the current administration. The PDP government at the time, you know, and of course, maybe even across states, still has moments where they award contracts to their friends and their cronies.
“So, would that be a fair criticism to throw at the PDP and yourself? Well, certainly, no one can question my moral standing to make these assertions. And if they can, they should come out and make it, right? I am the one sitting here. I’m not sending a proxy, right? So that’s number one.
“Number two, whether you say PDP has been in government before or not, PDP is not in government. There’s somebody who is in government, who is taking these actions. You can’t say because PDP once ruled or what have you, that people cannot complain about things that is wrong,” he said.
“It’s our prerogative to do so. And in fact, it is our responsibility to do so. Remember that if you want to talk about PDP-APC, APC has been in power since 2015.
“This is 2024, almost 10 years. So, referring back 10 years does not hold water at all. And if you look at, actually, if you go and look at all the metrics, right, whether it’s the cost of living, whether it’s GDP, whether it’s our economic standing, whether it is GDP per capita, even if you take it to the basic quality of life that people are living and ask them 10 years ago when APC came. Today, they should compare and contrast.
“If you ask 10 people, I’m sure you’ll get nine answers that they are worse off today than they were 10 years ago. So let’s not even politicise it. This is a basic issue,” he added.
Doherty stressed that the government’s actions disregard laws and could have severe economic consequences. He urged Nigerians to hold the leadership accountable, emphasising that opposition parties and citizens are responsible for challenging policies that exacerbate the hardships the public faces.
“There’s a government in power. There are laws. By its actions, the government appears to be disregarding those laws.
“And this action can have severe economic impacts, including dire impacts on the people who are going through unprecedented hardship, and we must stand against that,” he said.
