The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has taken a swipe at Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, after he acknowledged that the administration’s economic reforms had pushed more Nigerians into poverty.

The ACF’s Publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Mohammed-Baba, made the remark during an interview on Arise Television’s News Day on Thursday, reacting to Bwala’s appearance on Channels Television a day earlier. The presidential aide had admitted that more Nigerians fell into poverty following the reforms but maintained that the government had made significant progress.

Mohammed-Baba sarcastically congratulated Bwala for acknowledging the hardship, saying the admission marked a departure from what he described as the government’s tendency to deny or downplay criticism. He argued that the acknowledgement reinforced concerns about the immediate impact of the administration’s economic policies on households.

The ACF spokesman also challenged the government’s argument that the hardship would eventually be outweighed by the benefits of reform. He cited rising living expenses, including rent, building materials, transport fares and electricity bills, and said insecurity had further complicated conditions for Nigerians, particularly in parts of northern Nigeria.

Mohammed-Baba claimed that multidimensional poverty affected more than 60 per cent of Nigerians, although that figure was presented during the interview and should not be treated as a newly verified official statistic. He also compared the government’s defence of its reforms with the structural adjustment programme introduced during the administration of former military Head of State Ibrahim Babangida.

Bwala, however, maintained that the economic discomfort was linked to the reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration, including petrol subsidy removal and changes to the foreign exchange market. While acknowledging that more people had fallen into poverty, he argued that the country had recorded what he described as “marked progress” since the measures began. 

The exchange has renewed debate over the social costs of the government’s economic policies, with critics questioning whether the hardship experienced by households is justified by the reforms’ stated objectives. The Presidency has continued to defend the measures as necessary economic restructuring, while the ACF has called for greater accountability over the conditions facing Nigerians.