Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s foreign exchange reforms, saying the naira’s depreciation has eroded Nigerians’ purchasing power and worsened poverty.
Obasanjo spoke on Wednesday at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, where he argued that the sharp fall in the naira’s value had imposed a heavy economic burden on households across the country.
“We do not live in isolation as a country. We interact with the rest of the world. And overnight, you devalue the currency by 300 per cent. The naira went from N500 to a dollar to N1,500 to a dollar,” he said.
“What that meant was that every Nigerian is made poor by 300 per cent. That made Nigeria become the poverty capital of the world, which means Nigeria has the largest number of poor people in the world.
“You cannot say to me that that is good for Nigeria. You cannot say to me that that is good for us in any sense.”
Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023, triggering increases in fuel prices and transportation costs. The following month, his administration introduced foreign exchange reforms that allowed the naira to trade more freely and narrowed the gap between official and parallel market rates.
The government said the measures were intended to improve efficiency in the foreign exchange market, attract investment and address longstanding distortions.
However, the reforms coincided with a steep depreciation of the naira, rising inflation and higher prices for imported goods, adding to the financial strain on households and businesses.
Rising food, transport and other essential costs have further weakened consumers’ purchasing power, while the debate over the impact of the reforms on poverty and living standards continues.
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