APC secretary disagrees with inflation data, says economic crisis exaggerated

Ajibola Basiru, national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has disagreed with the inflation numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Speaking on ‘Politics Today’ on Channels Television, Basiru said while the nation’s economy is challenging, it is not getting worse.

During the interview, Seun Okinbaloye, the presenter, juxtaposed inflation figures from June 2023 and July 2024 as released by the NBS — an agency of the federal government.

President Bola Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2024.

Nigeria’s inflation rate was 22.7 percent in June 2023 and 34.19 percent in June 2024.

Food inflation was 40.87 percent in June 2024.

Presented with the numbers, Ajibola, a former spokesperson of the senate, said he disagrees with NBS’ figures. He however added that the country is facing “inflationary challenges”.

Asked about his own inflation data, he said “I don’t know”.

“I don’t agree with those statistics,” he reiterated.

Ajibola quizzed the presenter on the source of the inflation data, to which Okinbaloye responded: “NBS”.

The former senate spokesperson repeatedly dismissed the NBS data on inflation.

“I know that there are inflation challenges but it is not up to that level,” he said.

“I only know that there are inflation challenges and that as a government, we are tackling the challenges.”

Subsequently, the APC secretary said he does not have access to the NBS inflation data in the country.

“I’m agreeable that there are inflation challenges but I don’t agree with the figures you have quoted,” he added.

“Things are getting challenging, I must agree but it is different from things are getting worse.”

The former spokesperson said the Tinubu-led administration is putting measures in place to address food security.