Supreme Council for Shari’ah Raises Alarm Over Soaring Cost of Living Under President Tinubu’s Administration
By Matthew Eloyi
The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria has expressed grave concerns over the alarming surge in the prices of essential commodities and other valuables nationwide, asserting that the hardship has intensified during President Bola Tinubu’s tenure.
Speaking at the SCSN’s National Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the President of the Council, Sheikh AbdurRasheed Hadiyatullah, highlighted the distressing economic conditions faced by Nigerians, emphasizing the pressing issues of unemployment and economic challenges. He addressed the gathering on the theme, “Matters Arising from the 2023 Election and Associated Socio-Economic Challenges.”
“The suffering of Nigerians has escalated since President Tinubu assumed office. What used to cost N200 is now being sold at N2,000. Nigeria’s current state is marked by cash scarcity, unemployment, and economic challenges,” Sheikh Hadiyatullah declared.
Nigeria grapples with its most severe cost-of-living crisis, witnessing year-on-year inflation persisting unabated in 2023. While the inflation rate did not reach the predicted 30 per cent as anticipated by experts, it has been attributed to the growing poverty rates in the country. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that inflation closed in 2023 at a 21-year high of 28.92 per cent.
The major contributors to this inflation include food and non-alcoholic beverages (14.98 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel (4.84 per cent), clothing and footwear (2.21 per cent), transport (1.88 per cent), furnishings and household equipment and maintenance (1.45 per cent), and education (1.14 per cent).
Food inflation continues to outpace general inflation, reaching 33.93 per cent in December 2023. Between January and May 2023, inflation reportedly pushed an estimated four million people into poverty in the country, according to the World Bank.
In a November report, the World Bank revealed that the persistent spike in inflation would lead to a further 2.8 million people falling into poverty by the end of 2023. The removal of the fuel subsidy and the foreign exchange rate unification policy have been identified as contributing factors to the surge in the country’s inflation.
In its December update of the Nigeria Development Update report, the global agency disclosed that since May, petrol prices had increased by an average of 163 per cent, and the naira had depreciated against the US dollar by 41 per cent in the official market and by 30 per cent in the parallel market.