YPP's Agada calls FG's 90-day cost of living plan election bait
- Peter Agada, the Young Progressives Party presidential candidate, says the government's 90-day plan to ease hardship is a campaign move.
- He argues past interventions since 2023, from grants to food tariff waivers, did not bring down prices.
- Agada is pushing his own ward-level plan, which he says can pay out ₦40 million a month per ward.
The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Peter Agada, has dismissed the Federal Government's 90-day action plan to ease the cost of living, calling it a campaign strategy rather than a real economic fix.
Agada spoke to reporters in Abuja on Saturday. The National Economic Council (NEC), which brings together the President and state governors, approved the plan, according to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
His central complaint is timing. With the 2027 general election about 85 days away, he asked what happens to Nigerians once the 90 days end and the vote is over.
"So after the election, what happens?"
He said the promises are meant to win votes, not to change conditions on the ground.
Past promises, no relief
Agada listed earlier measures he said did not deliver. These include the ₦75 billion set aside for manufacturing, another ₦75 billion for micro, small and medium businesses, ₦50 billion in conditional grants, grain and fertiliser distribution, ₦200 billion to cultivate 500 hectares, ₦50 billion each for rice farmers and ₦100 billion for the compressed natural gas (CNG) push.
He also pointed to the removal of tariffs on food imports, saying it did not bring food prices down. In his words, if the aim was to fight food inflation, prices should return to where they were before the government took office.
He said the President's economic team has lost its way, adding that analysts he has heard on television and radio have had nothing positive to say about it.
One source of confusion: outlets named different ministers as having announced the plan. Vanguard and Daily Post named Wale Edun, while Punch and ThisDay named Taiwo Oyedele. The reports agree that NEC approved it.
His alternative
Agada is offering his own proposal, the #LabourDirect ward-to-ward development strategy. He says it would pay out ₦40 million every month to each ward and reach all Nigerians within 60 days of take-off.
He also wants a monitoring dashboard built on the Labour Direct Information Network (LIN System), which he says would track projects, jobs, production, taxes and revenue in one place. Monthly job figures, he argued, would show whether any government plan is actually working.
He urged the government to bring in people with practical ideas for the grassroots economy, and asked Nigerians to keep asking what each promise has delivered.
