The Presidency has rejected claims by African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms have failed, accusing the former vice president of relying on outdated data to assess the country’s economic performance.
In a statement issued on Monday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Atiku’s criticism was based on economic figures from 2024 and did not reflect the country’s current realities.
According to Onanuga, Nigeria’s economy has recorded significant improvements since the initial adjustment period that followed key reforms, including exchange rate liberalisation and fuel subsidy removal.
He said the country’s dollar-denominated Gross Domestic Product has risen to about $377 billion, while its naira GDP increased from approximately ₦314 trillion in 2024 to around ₦530 trillion.
Responding to allegations of excessive borrowing, Onanuga argued that debt should be assessed against the size of the economy and the country’s ability to generate revenue rather than the total amount borrowed.
He added that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio remains about 40 per cent, while the debt service-to-revenue ratio has fallen from nearly 100 per cent in December 2022 to below 60 per cent under the current administration.
The presidential spokesman also defended the removal of fuel subsidy, describing it as a necessary reform that has increased allocations to states and local governments for infrastructure, healthcare, education and other public services.
He dismissed Atiku’s criticism of the administration’s tax reforms, insisting the policies were designed to protect low-income earners and small businesses while ensuring wealthier individuals and profitable companies contribute more.
On healthcare, Onanuga said more than 3,000 primary healthcare centres have been revitalised, over 78,000 frontline health workers retrained, and more than 100 public hospitals now provide free caesarean sections for indigent mothers.
He added that three specialised cancer centres are now operational in Kubwa, Enugu and Katsina, while cancer treatment facilities have been upgraded in 13 states.
In education, he said over 11,000 projects have been executed through the Universal Basic Education Commission in partnership with state governments, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has disbursed more than ₦303 billion to over 1.64 million students across 300 tertiary institutions.
On claims that the Federal Government received an undeclared oil windfall of ₦7.98 trillion, Onanuga described the allegation as misleading, explaining that government oil revenue cannot be calculated by simply multiplying crude oil prices by production volumes without accounting for production costs, company shares and existing crude sale agreements.
He maintained that although the reforms initially created hardship, they have begun stabilising the economy, with inflation expected to ease further before the end of the year.
Onanuga added that the Federal Government has complemented the reforms with social intervention programmes, including NG-CARES, HOPE and SOLID initiatives valued at more than $3 billion, alongside cash transfers targeted at 15 million vulnerable households.
He said President Tinubu remains focused on long-term economic transformation despite continued political criticism.
