The distribution of brand-new Toyota Prado sport utility vehicles to selected youth leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has triggered widespread outrage.
Political economist, Pat Utomi, party supporters and other Nigerians have questioned the ruling party’s spending priorities amid the country’s economic hardship.
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.
But the display attracted criticism from Nigerians who contrasted the expensive vehicles with the struggles of households to afford food, medicines, rent and other necessities.
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.
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, alleged that more than 20 brand-new 2026 Toyota Prado SUVs, each valued at ₦120 million, had been distributed to APC youth leaders nationwide at a total cost exceeding ₦2 billion.
Durojaiye questioned the development against the backdrop of families struggling to afford food and basic medicines, pay rent and secure decent employment.
“In a country where a parent cannot afford a common malaria drug costing ₦2,000 for their child,” he wrote.
He cited the difficulties confronting ordinary Nigerians.
He also queried the responsibilities of religious leaders in the face of widespread hardship and referenced the religious affiliations of Israel and the First Lady.
Daily Trust has not independently verified Durojaiye’s claim that more than 20 vehicles were distributed and financed by public funds.
Reports on the original video identified seven SUVs, while the First Lady confirmed that she donated vehicles to the party’s youth wing.
A. Adebanji, posting on X as @prinxe_B, described the development as “peak (of) insensitivity”.
He warned that it had handed opposition parties fresh ammunition to challenge the APC and the Tinubu administration.
“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.
Sammy Desh, another X user, also criticised Israel.
He described his conduct as an embarrassment to the office of national youth leader.
Desh, however, distinguished the controversy from the position of the Federal Government and the APC leadership.
He said he was convinced that the government had no involvement in the episode.
“This isn’t what the APC or President Tinubu stands for,” he wrote.
Prince Adeshina similarly described Israel as a political liability to the ruling party.
He wrote that the youth leader was “the weapon fashioned against APC, PBAT, and every youth in the APC”.
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.
It is this distinction between improving economic indicators and the purchasing power of households that has shaped much of the criticism surrounding the Prado donation.
For families struggling to pay rent, purchase medicines and feed their children, the distribution of luxury SUVs to political officials has raised questions about the priorities of a party preparing to seek another electoral mandate.
The World Bank’s October 2026 Nigeria Development Update reported that the economy grew by 4.2 per cent in the first half of 2026, compared with 3.9 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025, with services and agriculture contributing to the expansion.
The Bank also said the country’s poverty rate had stabilised for the first time since 2019, although it cautioned that the gains from economic stabilisation would need to translate into stronger job creation, better public services and improved living standards.
The report attributed the improvement in public finances partly to reforms introduced since 2023, including petrol subsidy removal, foreign-exchange market changes and stronger revenue administration.
According to the Bank, gross federation revenues increased by 69 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025. State governments used the additional resources to increase capital spending, particularly on transport infrastructure, agriculture, energy and housing.
However, spending on education and other social services has not increased at the same pace as spending on economic infrastructure
This prompted the Bank to stress the importance of improving the quality and accountability of public expenditure.
President Tinubu welcomed the report, describing its findings as evidence that the reforms were working.
He argued that they had created fiscal space for governments to invest in development.
The President acknowledged that more remained to be done to ensure that economic gains translated into lower food prices, decent jobs and improved living conditions.
He also said targeted cash transfers had reached more than 10 million households and pledged to expand support for vulnerable Nigerians, improve agricultural productivity and widen access to affordable healthcare and education.
In another response to the pressure on household budgets, the Federal Government announced in October that Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s retail arm would temporarily forgo its petrol profit margin and sell fuel at cost for 30 days, in a bid to cushion the impact of rising global oil prices.
The 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.
(Daily Trust)
