Presidency replies Atiku, defends Tinubu’s economic reforms

The Presidency has dismissed criticism by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the state of Nigeria’s economy, insisting that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms are producing positive results despite the initial hardships they caused.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, accused Atiku of relying on outdated economic data and presenting an incomplete picture of the country’s economic performance.

The statement was in response to Atiku’s recent claim that the Tinubu administration was “lying with statistics” to conceal worsening economic conditions.

According to the Presidency, assessing the administration’s performance using figures from 2024 ignores the progress made since then, arguing that economic reforms should be judged over time rather than at their most difficult phase.

Onanuga said Nigeria’s dollar-denominated Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which dropped to about $253 billion following the exchange rate reforms, has recovered to approximately $377 billion, while the country’s naira GDP has increased from about ₦314 trillion in 2024 to around ₦530 trillion.

He also rejected claims that the Federal Government was borrowing recklessly, maintaining that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio remains below 40 per cent and compares favourably with many other countries.

According to him, the administration has also reduced the country’s debt service-to-revenue ratio from nearly 100 per cent in 2022 to less than 60 per cent through improved revenue generation and prudent debt management.

Defending the removal of fuel subsidy, the Presidency said the policy had significantly increased revenues accruing to states and local governments, enabling higher spending on infrastructure, education, healthcare and social services.

Onanuga argued that the decision ended a long-standing fiscal burden that previous administrations had failed to address.

The Presidency also defended the administration’s tax reforms, saying they were designed to reduce the burden on low-income earners and small businesses while ensuring wealthier individuals and profitable companies contribute more through improved tax compliance.

Responding to claims that the government had failed to improve workers’ welfare and public services, Onanuga highlighted investments in healthcare, education and infrastructure.

He said more than 3,000 primary healthcare centres had been upgraded, over 78,000 frontline health workers retrained, while more than 100 public health facilities now provide free caesarean sections for indigent women.

He added that over 11,000 education projects had been undertaken through the Universal Basic Education Commission, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had disbursed more than ₦303 billion to over 1.64 million students across 300 tertiary institutions.

The Presidency also rejected Atiku’s claim of a ₦7.98 trillion oil revenue windfall, describing the calculation as misleading.

According to Onanuga, although global crude oil prices exceeded the budget benchmark, lower production levels and existing crude-backed loan obligations reduced the revenue available to the government.

He said crude oil earnings could not be calculated by simply multiplying oil prices by production volumes without accounting for production costs, contractual obligations and the share due to oil companies.

While acknowledging that the reforms had imposed short-term hardships on Nigerians, the Presidency maintained that they were necessary to correct long-standing structural distortions and place the economy on a path of sustainable growth.

It added that the Federal Government had introduced programmes, including NG-CARES, HOPE and SOLID, alongside cash transfers to vulnerable households, to cushion the impact of the reforms.

The statement concluded that the Tinubu administration would remain focused on implementing reforms aimed at expanding economic opportunities, strengthening public institutions and improving the living standards of Nigerians.