Presidency slams Adesina over remarks on Nigeria’s GDP figures

The Presidency has faulted claim of the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, on the current Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita figures compared to the level it was in 1960 when the nation attained independence.

The outgoing AfDB president recently claimed that Nigerians are worse off today than in 1960.

Adesina stated that Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 1960 was $1,847 and that it is $824 today.

Reacting via a statement issued on Monday, May 5, 2025, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Adesina based his conclusion on figures that do not align with available data.

Onanuga said the figures quoted by the AfDB president were incorrect, noting that Adesina spoke like a politician in his claims.

The presidential spokesman noted that the country’s GDP was $4.2 billion in 1960, saying per capita income for a population of 44.9 million was $93.

He added: “Our country’s GDP did not rise remarkably until the 1970s, when crude earnings ballooned. In 1970, our GDP rose to $12.55 billion. In 1975, it was $27.7 billion, $64.2 billion in 1980, and $164 billion in 1981.

“Up until 1980, per capita income did not exceed $880. It rose to $2187 in 1981 and dropped to $1844 in 1982. In 2014, after rebasing, it reached an all-time high of $3,200.

“These facts raise questions about the source of Dr Adesina’s figures.

“But my mission in this response is not to poke holes in the erudite African banking president’s figures. The more substantive issue lies in Dr. Adesina’s conclusion based on these numbers.

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“Dr Adesina should know that GDP per capita is not the only criterion used to determine whether people live better lives now than in the past. Indeed, it is a poor tool for assessing living standards.

“Its primary usefulness is in giving us the metrics to compare economic output in a country or between countries.

“GDP masks many activities in a country’s economy. It neither discloses wealth distribution or income inequality nor accounts for the informal economy, which experts have said is enormous. It does not account for subsistence farming or income transfer from one family member to another.

“GDP per capita is silent on whether Nigerians in 2025 enjoy better access to healthcare, education, and transportation, such as rail and air transport, than in 1960.”

Onanuga stated that Nigeria today, in comparison with 1960, has more primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, noting that the country has more road networks and more medical facilities, private and public.

Onanuga said over 200 million Nigerians now enjoy near-universal access to mobile phones and digital services, “indicating we are better off today than 65 years ago.”

The presidential spokesman said: “No objective observer can claim that Nigeria has not made progress since 1960.

“Today, as we await the NBS’s recalibration of our GDP, we can comfortably say without contradiction that it is at least 50 times, if not 100 times, more than it was at Independence.

“Adesina spoke like a politician, in the mould of Peter Obi and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement.”

The Star