A faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day “Red Sea” narrative, declaring that the President is “Pharaoh, not Moses” in the economic journey of Nigerians.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Kabiru Turaki-lef faction, Comrade Ini Ememobong, said the President’s Independence Day address attempted to portray his administration as Moses leading Nigerians from economic bondage to freedom.
But Ememobong said the reality confronting Nigerians was the reverse, accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of subjecting citizens to worsening economic hardship since 2015.
According to him, the Presidency’s admission that poverty was rising and hope was nearly gone by 2023 was only part of the story, as many Nigerians now believe their living conditions are worse than they were when Tinubu assumed office.
“Mr. President says Nigerians should not look back, because he knows that is where the truth is,” he said, pointing to rising rents, transport fares, school fees and food prices.
The spokesman cited National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures showing food inflation at 19.57 per cent in August 2026, arguing that the marginal monthly decline did little to reverse the steep increase in the cost of feeding Nigerian families.
“In some states, the situation is even more desperate, with food inflation above 35 per cent,” he said.
Ememobong also faulted the administration’s claim of supporting businesses, saying the reduction of the Monetary Policy Rate from 26.5 per cent to 23 per cent had not translated into affordable credit for businesses.
He argued that the economic realities confronting Nigerians contradicted the narrative of a country being led from hardship to prosperity.
“The lived experience of Nigerians was far better then than it is now, due largely to the reckless and insensitive economic policies and the unfortunate implementation strategy of the Bola Tinubu/APC-led administration,” he said.
Turning the President’s biblical analogy on its head, Ememobong declared: “So clearly, Tinubu and the APC are the Pharaoh who are chasing Nigerians.”
He said the 2027 general election would provide Nigerians with an opportunity to choose their own “Moses” and end what he described as the economic pain under the APC administration.
The faction’s spokesman also took a swipe at Tinubu over his foreign travels, contrasting the President with the biblical Moses, whom he said “stays and goes with his people” rather than being detached from their realities.
Ememobong accused the administration of worsening economic hardship, polarisation, insecurity and threats to democratic consolidation, while alleging that political “gimmicks and theatrics” were being deployed ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said Nigerians would see beyond attempts to portray Tinubu as the leader taking the country from “pain to prosperity.”
“As citizens, we are assured that, like the biblical Israelites, Nigerians will escape the Red Sea and arrive in Canaan, but the pursuing Pharaoh and his team will not,” the statement said.