HUMAN rights lawyer Femi Falana has expressed concern that the policy reforms of President Bola Tinubu are making life better only for the rich, while worsening the plight of the masses.

Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), criticised Tinubu’s economic reforms when he appeared on Monday, June 9, edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He stressed that the past two years of Tinubu’s administration have left many Nigerians struggling to survive under difficult economic conditions.

“For members of the government—and I’m talking of top officials—it’s been very rosy. One of them was singing a week ago that things are getting better.

“Of course, for the rich, the bourgeoisie, things are getting better. But for the masses of our people, things are getting tougher because they are going through an excruciating economic crisis,” Falana said.

President Tinubu came into power on May 29, 2023, and has initiated some critical reforms.

However, his economic policies, notably the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, have driven up energy prices, transport fares, food costs, and the costs of other goods and services.

Stressing on these policies and how their implementation has left Nigerians in hardship, Falana noted that Tinubu had repeatedly appealed to Nigerians for patience and promised that his economic reforms would eventually lead to national prosperity.

“In fairness to the President, on many occasions, he has asked Nigerians to bear with him, to exercise patience, that our economic programme will lead to prosperity.

“Whether you believe that or not is another matter, but the government itself realises that there is a crisis in town, that people are hungry, that many are about to withdraw their children from school because of the rigid implementation of neoliberal policies dictated or endorsed by the IMF and World Bank,” he pointed out.

A former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, had recently criticised Tinubu’s administration policies.

In his criticism, Obi offered ways on how he would have implemented the policies on the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification, The ICIR reported.