President Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have clashed over the Federal Government’s economic reforms, with Tinubu defending the policies as necessary for long-term growth and Atiku accusing the administration of subjecting Nigerians to prolonged hardship.
Tinubu, represented by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, spoke on Tuesday at the second edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series and Policy Roundtable in Abuja.
He said the reforms introduced since he assumed office in May 2023 had strengthened the foundation for economic stability and placed Nigeria on course to achieving a $1tn economy by 2030.
According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy, foreign exchange reforms, increased revenue mobilisation and investment in infrastructure were necessary to address structural weaknesses in the economy.
“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office on 29 May 2023, Nigeria faced a difficult economic inheritance. We had fuel subsidy distortions, multiple exchange-rate windows, weak revenue mobilisation, foreign-exchange shortages, rising debt-service pressures and years of inadequate investment in critical infrastructure,” he said.
Yilwatda, speaking on the President’s behalf, said Nigeria’s gross external reserves had risen to about $52.7bn by August 2026, while consolidated non-oil revenue increased from approximately N13.63tn in 2023 to N16.4tn in the first two quarters of 2026.
He also said the country’s merchandise trade surplus rose from about N44.8bn in 2023 to approximately N7.54tn in the first quarter of 2026, while real Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter.
Tinubu said the figures showed that the direction of the economy had changed, although he acknowledged that economic challenges remained.
“Macroeconomic stability is not the destination; it is the foundation. The ultimate test is when stability translates into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians,” he said.
On the $1tn economy target, Tinubu said the ambition required major investment in roads, rail, ports, energy and digital infrastructure.
He proposed an integrated maritime and logistics corridor linking deep-sea ports in Lagos, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Port Harcourt and Calabar to major cities, production centres and markets in the country’s interior and neighbouring countries.
He said the development of industrial parks, export-processing zones, logistics hubs, agro-processing clusters and manufacturing centres along major transport corridors would help create jobs, generate foreign exchange and expand economic activity.
Tinubu also highlighted investments in youth development, including access to higher education through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, technical and vocational training, digital skills programmes and access to credit through initiatives such as CREDICORP.
Earlier, the Chairman of the APC Professionals Forum’s Board of Trustees, Dr Isa Yuguda, defended the removal of fuel subsidy, describing it as a difficult but necessary reform.
Yuguda said his experience as chairman of the 2009 Fuel Subsidy Task Force exposed widespread fraud and financial leakages in the subsidy system.
He claimed the reform had saved more than N15tn, which he said could be channelled into education, security, agriculture and infrastructure.
Yuguda warned that a return to fuel subsidy without addressing the weaknesses of the previous system could reverse the government’s fiscal gains.
However, Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, criticised the administration’s economic policies, arguing that Nigerians had endured years of hardship while the government was only now promising relief.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the central issue was the inability of millions of Nigerians to afford basic necessities.
In a statement titled, “Tinubu, the issue is not Atiku, it is why Nigerians can no longer afford to live,” Shaibu said Atiku would continue to advocate policies aimed at reducing the cost of living rather than engage the President in a personal exchange.
He questioned why the government was now promising cheaper transportation, increased food production and support for vulnerable Nigerians after more than three years in office.
“Why did Nigerians have to suffer for more than three years before your government discovered that economic growth must reach ‘the dining table and the pocket’?” he asked.
Atiku’s camp argued that reducing energy costs would lower transportation and production expenses and, consequently, reduce the prices of food and other essential goods.
It said Atiku’s proposed economic recovery plan would provide targeted support for crude supplied to domestic refineries under a capped and transparently budgeted framework, with mechanisms to track crude supplies, refined products and the transfer of benefits to consumers.
The former vice president also criticised the student loan programme, arguing that loans should not be presented as evidence that education had become affordable.
“A student loan is not a scholarship. It is a liability,” Atiku said, adding that he would seek to reduce the underlying cost of education and consider forgiveness for qualifying student debts.
He also demanded greater transparency over the financial gains from fuel subsidy removal, citing the Federal Government’s claim that the policy had mobilised about N15.8tn between June 2023 and December 2025.
Atiku asked the government to explain the measurable benefits Nigerians had received from the savings.
His camp also called for clarification of about N30tn in Federation Account revenues, deductions, savings and transfers, as well as Import Duty Exemption Certificate approvals covering about N34tn worth of imports in 2025.
The ADC candidate said Nigerians should distinguish between temporary relief measures introduced ahead of the 2027 elections and sustainable policies capable of addressing the structural problems affecting the economy.
The exchange comes as political parties and opposition figures intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections, with the cost of living, fuel prices, food inflation, wages and social protection expected to remain major issues in the campaign.