The interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress ( ADC), Senator David Mark, has said that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration produced more hardship and misery for the citizens in 2025.
Mark, in a New Year message on Wednesday (today, yesterday, expressed dismay that rather than offer hope to the citizens in the New Year, the Federal Government has decided to compound the woes of citizens with a “stringent ‘ new tax regime.
The opposition leader, who alleged that misguided policies by the government plunged more people into multidimensional poverty, stated that the new tax regime, which is scheduled to commence on January 1, 2026, thaqt is tomorrow, will further renew hopelessness in the country.
According to him, “the year 2025 was, without doubt, a difficult year for the majority of Nigerians. The renewed hope that the government promised has yielded more misery and widespread hardship, as citizens battled with an ever-rising cost of living.
“Food, basic drugs, and transportation were priced out of the reach of most people as a result of the government’s misguided policies, which have condemned more people to multidimensional poverty.
“However, rather than offer hope in the new year, the APC government has decided to impose stringent taxes that are bound to compound the misery of citizens already overburdened by cost-of-living crises. These taxes will not renew hope; they will renew hopelessness.”
Mark, while calling for prayers for the families of soldiers and security personnel, who lost their lives in the line of duty, and families of victims of insurgents, bandits, terrorists, and kidnappers, said 2025 despite its challenges offered a defining moment for the country’s democracy.
“Yet, 2025 also offered us a defining moment for our democracy. On July 2, 2025, we announced the coalition of opposition parties in Nigeria under the banner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
“Like we have declared many times, our coalition was born out of necessity: to arrest Nigeria’s gradual descent into an authoritarian one-party state, and to rescue our country from a government that behaves more like an army of occupation than a government elected by the people, for the people.
“In taking on this mission, we were fully conscious of the responsibilities it imposed on us. We recognise that the legitimacy of our rescue mission will depend on our willingness to commit to a higher principle of politics, driven primarily by patriotism and service to the people,” Mark stated.
He added that “since we announced the coalition, we have been encouraged by the overwhelming support and enthusiasm of ordinary Nigerians across the length and breadth of our country.
“We are aware that because of the repeated failure of governments to deliver on past promises, many are skeptical, but we call on you to overcome your doubts, to rise beyond your cynicism, and to join us in this historic mission.
“We do not claim to be perfect, but do not doubt our sense of duty and our commitment to be on the good side of history. No matter what we say, ‘We have seen all this before,’ they say. ‘We have heard all this before,’ they say. But we call on you to overcome your doubts, to rise beyond your cynicism, and to join us in this historic mission. We do not claim to be perfect, but do not doubt our sense of duty and our commitment to be on the good side of history.
“When all hope appeared lost, when the ship of our country floundered, when it looked like Nigeria would never rise again, it would be said that some people came together, not because they were perfect, but because they recognised the significance of the moment and said Nigeria must not fail. It must rise again.”
