Yemi Obafemi
The Presidency has defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying they are beginning to deliver positive results despite the initial challenges associated with their implementation.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency dismissed criticisms by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, saying his assessment of the administration’s economic policies relied on outdated 2024 data and failed to reflect the current state of the economy. “Economies are dynamic. Reforms are processes, not events,” the statement said.
According to the statement, Nigeria’s economy has recovered considerably since the exchange-rate adjustment, with dollar-denominated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increasing from about $253 billion after the currency realignment to approximately $377 billion, while naira GDP rose from about ₦314 trillion in 2024 to around ₦530 trillion.
“The reforms were never advertised as painless. They were presented as necessary structural adjustments intended to correct long-standing distortions,” the Presidency said.
The Presidency also rejected allegations of excessive borrowing, insisting that Nigeria’s debt remains sustainable.
“Debt, in itself, is not the defining measure of fiscal health,” the statement said, adding that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio is “barely 40 per cent,” while the debt service-to-revenue ratio has declined from nearly 100 per cent in December 2022 to less than 60 per cent.
Defending the removal of fuel subsidy, the Presidency said the policy had increased statutory allocations to states and local governments, enabling them to invest more in infrastructure, healthcare, education, salaries, pensions and social programmes.
“The current administration deserves commendation for being able to get rid of something that has become a lodestone around the neck of our collective patrimony,” it said.
On tax reforms, the Presidency said the measures were designed to create a broader and fairer tax system, reducing the burden on low-income earners and small businesses while improving compliance among wealthier individuals and profitable companies.
It also highlighted achievements in the health sector, including the revitalisation of more than 3,000 primary healthcare centres, the retraining of over 78,000 frontline health workers and the establishment of three cancer centres in Kubwa, Enugu and Katsina.
In education, the statement said over 11,000 projects had been executed under the Universal Basic Education Commission, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had benefited more than 1.64 million students with over ₦303 billion disbursed across 300 tertiary institutions.
The Presidency further dismissed Atiku’s claim of a ₦7.98 trillion oil revenue windfall, saying the calculation ignored production shortfalls, production costs, oil companies’ entitlements and existing crude-backed obligations.
“There is no such windfall of ₦7.98 trillion,” the statement said.
The Presidency maintained that while Nigeria’s economy was still evolving, the reforms had corrected long-standing structural distortions and laid the foundation for sustainable growth.
“History rarely remembers governments for the popularity of their decisions in the moment. It remembers whether those decisions ultimately strengthened or weakened the nation,” the statement added.
