The Federal Government has defended the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying the removal of petrol subsidy and foreign exchange reforms created N15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation Account between June 2023 and December 2025. Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the Federal Government received N5.4 trillion of the amount, while states and local governments received N10.4 trillion.
Oyedele made the disclosure in Abuja after President Tinubu directed him to present a detailed scorecard of the administration’s reforms and explain their gains, costs and the challenges they were designed to prevent. He said the Federal Government borrowed N11.9 trillion during the period but argued that borrowing would have been significantly higher without the fiscal space created by the reforms. According to him, the government’s incremental resources reached N20.4 trillion, while additional expenditure stood at N30.64 trillion.
The minister said N9.39 trillion of the additional spending went into wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances, while N9.37 trillion was used for external debt servicing and N6.5 trillion was invested in strategic infrastructure. He also pointed to improvements in key economic indicators, including headline inflation, foreign reserves, stock market capitalisation and economic growth. However, Oyedele acknowledged that the reforms have come with serious costs, particularly higher petrol prices, interest rates and pressure on household finances.
Oyedele said petrol prices had risen from about N185 per litre before the reforms to between N1,100 and N1,400, while the Monetary Policy Rate climbed from 18.5 per cent to 26.5 per cent. He nevertheless argued that the reforms prevented deeper economic problems, including fuel shortages and a widening gap between official and parallel exchange rates. He also admitted that poverty reduction and household welfare remain “unfinished business,” despite food inflation easing to 17.52 per cent and headline inflation falling to 15.91 per cent as of June 2026.
The government’s explanation, however, has not ended the controversy over the management of public revenue. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar challenged the administration to account for what he described as nearly N30 trillion in Federation revenues, deductions, savings and transfers requiring reconciliation. Atiku argued that Nigerians deserve a detailed ledger showing where every naira from the subsidy savings and other revenues went, insisting that the government’s reform scorecard must be matched by full financial transparency. The dispute puts the government’s economic reform narrative under renewed scrutiny as Nigerians continue to wait for the promised improvement in household living standards.
source: This day
