Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has told President Bola Tinubu to begin preparing his handover notes ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku made the call in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

The ADC candidate also criticised the Federal Government’s plan to collaborate with state governors to reduce public transportation fares, describing the move as a belated response to the cost-of-living crisis triggered by the removal of fuel subsidy.

“President Tinubu, Nigerians have paid enough for your economic experiment. Too little. Too inadequate. Too late. Your time is up. Prepare your handover. We are coming to make life affordable again,” Atiku said.

He questioned the performance of the government’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion programme, arguing that the reported conversion of about 120,000 vehicles in more than three years amounted to a poor showing.

According to Atiku, the figure represents less than one per cent of the estimated 14 million vehicles on Nigerian roads.

“If Tinubu’s grand strategy for cushioning the consequences of his reckless and poorly thought-out subsidy removal is CNG conversion, then the admission that only about 120,000 vehicles have been converted in more than three years is not an achievement. It is an advertisement of policy failure,” he said.

Atiku said the administration was effectively using its own figures to assess its performance, adding that the low conversion rate could not be presented as meaningful progress.

He further criticised President Tinubu’s recent position that lower fuel prices should translate into cheaper transport fares, saying the declaration showed that government policy had failed to adequately address the hardship faced by ordinary Nigerians.

Atiku argued that the removal of fuel subsidy without sufficient cushioning measures had contributed to higher transportation costs, food prices and business expenses over the past three years.

He also claimed that Nigerians were increasingly embracing his proposal for a production-based subsidy as a way of addressing the cost-of-living crisis.

According to him, the Federal Government, which previously criticised the proposal, was now introducing measures aimed at reducing transportation costs as the 2027 elections approach.

“Now that elections are approaching, and Nigerians are rallying behind Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for a production-based subsidy to immediately tackle the cost-of-living crisis created by Tinubu, the same government that ridiculed and criticised Atiku’s plan has suddenly discovered that Nigerians need cheaper transportation,” Shaibu said.

He described the move as “medicine after death”, arguing that Nigerians had endured the effects of subsidy removal for years without adequate relief.

Atiku said his administration would focus on supporting domestic refining, tracking crude oil production, controlling energy costs and ensuring that economic relief reaches commuters, farmers, workers, traders and small business owners.

“That is the difference between Tinubu and Atiku: Tinubu manufactures hardship and distributes palliatives. Atiku will attack hardship at its source,” he said.

He questioned the effectiveness of the government’s proposed transport intervention, arguing that cheaper operating costs would mean little if Nigerians remained unable to afford transportation.

“So what exactly has Tinubu solved if the bus becomes cheaper to operate but the passenger has become too poor to enter it? A cheaper bus without an affordable passenger is not economic recovery,” Atiku said.