The distribution of Toyota Prado sport utility vehicles to selected youth leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has triggered public criticism.
The controversy followed a video posted by the APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel.
The footage showed seven 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado SUVs presented to selected youth leaders to support grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Israel subsequently thanked First Lady Oluremi Tinubu for her support for the party’s youth wing.
The First Lady confirmed that she donated the vehicles to the APC National Youth Wing for mobilisation activities.
Although the exact purchase price and detailed funding arrangements were not publicly disclosed, the donation attracted criticism from Nigerians who contrasted the expensive vehicles with the struggles of households to afford food, medicines, rent and other necessities.
Political economist, Pat Utomi, party supporters and other Nigerians have questioned the ruling party’s spending priorities amid the country’s economic hardship.
Utomi, a chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), in his reaction, questioned the contrast between the luxury vehicles and the remuneration of Nigerian soldiers.
“Nigerian soldiers are being paid peanuts as salaries, yet an APC youth leader is flaunting SUVs worth billions of naira,” Utomi wrote on X.
In another post, he questioned whether the money spent on the vehicles could have provided emergency medical services.
He asked how many ambulances could have been purchased with the amount.
The criticism extended to the contradiction between the government’s calls for Nigerians to endure economic reforms and the provision of expensive vehicles to political loyalists.
Seun Durojaiye, another commentator on X, questioned the donation against the backdrop of families struggling to afford food and basic medicines, pay rent and secure decent employment.
He cited the difficulties confronting ordinary Nigerians.
A. Adebanji, posting on X as @prinxe_B, described the development as “peak (of) insensitivity”.
“At a time when Nigerians are struggling with the effects of reforms, you chose to flaunt SUVs for youth leaders. What exactly is the public supposed to make of this?” he asked.
Adebanji argued that the display could make it more difficult for the government to persuade Nigerians to accept the sacrifices associated with its economic policies.
“You cannot preach sacrifice to the people while flaunting privilege in their faces,” he wrote.
He warned that the controversy could turn public frustration into political ammunition for the opposition.
The controversy comes against the background of a cost-of-living crisis that has persisted despite signs of improvement in some of the country’s macroeconomic indicators.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 14.63 per cent in September 2026, from 15.39 per cent in August.
Food inflation, however, stood at 19.59 per cent, marginally higher than the 19.57 per cent recorded in the preceding month.
Although the decline in annual inflation indicates that prices are rising more slowly than before, it does not mean that the general cost of living has returned to previous levels.
The continued pressure on food prices remains particularly significant for low-income households, which spend a large proportion of their earnings on feeding.
The Tinubu administration has argued that restoring a blanket petrol subsidy would recreate fiscal pressures and distortions that contributed to fuel scarcity, smuggling and difficulties in public financing before the reforms.
It argued that the alternative is to preserve the reforms while directing more resources towards targeted assistance, infrastructure and economic opportunities.
Opposition figures, however, have continued to question when the benefits will become sufficiently visible in the daily lives of Nigerians.
They argue that stronger revenue figures, improved reserves and economic growth are not enough if households continue to struggle with food, transport, healthcare and housing costs.
Vanguard
