The Presidency yesterday told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to stop assessing President Bola Tinubu's administration based on the economic realities of 2024, insisting that Nigeria's reform programme has moved beyond its most difficult phase and is already producing measurable results.
In a detailed statement titled "Facts, Not Fear: A Point-by-Point Response to Atiku Abubakar on Nigeria's Reform Journey," Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Atiku's criticism of the administration's economic policies as outdated and based on "frozen snapshots of history."
According to Onanuga, while politics thrives on disagreement and democracy demands it, criticisms must be rooted in facts rather than historical snapshots that ignore subsequent developments.
Atiku had accused the Tinubu administration of fiscal recklessness, citing what he described as excessive borrowing in the 2024 budget, questioning the removal of fuel subsidy, criticising the administration's tax reforms, alleging an unaccounted oil windfall of N7.98 trillion and suggesting that Nigeria was drifting economically.
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Responding, the Presidency said the concerns deserved an answer "not because criticisms should be silenced, but because Nigerians deserve a fuller picture of where the country is today."
Onanuga said it was curious that "in the middle of 2026, the opposition's principal economic argument remains anchored to developments in the 2024 fiscal year."
"Economic reforms are processes, not events," he said, adding that judging the Tinubu administration solely by the painful adjustment period of 2024 was "like judging chemotherapy by the nausea it induces while ignoring the remission it seeks to achieve."
The Presidency said the Nigerian economy that experienced painful adjustments in 2024 had evolved considerably.
It explained that after the exchange-rate reset, Nigeria's dollar-denominated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell to about $253 billion but has since recovered to approximately $377 billion, representing an increase of about 49 per cent from the post-adjustment trough.
Similarly, it said the country's naira GDP had expanded from about N314 trillion in 2024 to around N530 trillion, a 69 per cent increase reflecting both higher economic activity and price changes.
While noting that the figures should continue to be assessed alongside real GDP growth, inflation and household welfare, the Presidency said they demonstrated that the economy had not remained frozen at its most difficult moment.
According to the statement, the reforms were never advertised as painless but were presented as necessary structural adjustments aimed at correcting long-standing distortions, including those created during the Obasanjo-Atiku administration between 1999 and 2007.
On borrowing, the Presidency argued that debt should not be viewed in isolation but alongside a country's economic capacity.
It said the real issues were the size of the economy, revenue-generating capacity, debt-servicing costs, the purpose of borrowing and whether borrowed resources financed productive investments or recurrent consumption.
According to Onanuga, Nigeria's borrowings have been directed at productive long-term infrastructure and investment projects in line with the law.
The statement noted that Nigeria's debt-to-GDP ratio remained at barely 40 per cent, comparing favourably with South Africa's 85 per cent, Egypt's 80 per cent, Ghana's 60 per cent, Kenya's 75 per cent, the United States' 130 per cent, the United Kingdom's 110 per cent and China's unofficial debt level estimated at about 300 per cent.
It added that although debt-service pressures had historically been significant, the Tinubu administration had reduced Nigeria's debt service-to-revenue ratio from nearly 100 per cent in December 2022 to less than 60 per cent.
The Presidency described this as evidence that revenue efficiency had improved while debt management remained conservative and prudent.
It argued that the more meaningful debate should focus on whether borrowing was expanding Nigeria's productive capacity and future revenues rather than merely postponing difficult choices.
Defending the removal of fuel subsidy, the Presidency said economists across ideological divides had for decades criticised the subsidy regime as fiscally costly and poorly targeted.
It said international institutions had consistently argued that subsidy payments consumed resources that could have been channelled into national development.
According to the statement, successive governments, including the one in which Atiku served as vice president, recognised the burden created by the subsidy but failed to remove it.
It recalled that the subsidy policy, introduced during the oil boom of the early 1970s following the Yom Kippur War, eventually became a toxic drain on public finances.
The Presidency argued that the Tinubu administration deserved credit for ending what it described as a "lodestone around the neck of our collective patrimony."
It said one visible consequence of subsidy removal had been the sharp increase in revenues accruing to states and local governments through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
According to the statement, the improved allocations have enabled many states to increase spending on roads, schools, hospitals, salaries, pensions and social programmes.
It added that the World Bank had independently acknowledged improvements in public revenues and subnational capital spending following the fiscal reforms.
The Presidency said the policy had effectively shifted greater responsibility for socio-economic development to states and local governments while simultaneously providing them with the financial resources to discharge those responsibilities.
"This is true federalism," the statement said, adding that economic restructuring was another important issue the government in which Atiku served had failed to address despite wielding significant influence.
The Presidency also rejected Atiku's criticism of the administration's tax reforms, describing it as "blatantly false" and an attempt to mislead Nigerians.
According to the statement, the objective of the reforms is not merely to increase tax collections but to establish a broader and fairer tax system.
It explained that the reforms would reduce the burden on low-income earners earning N1 million or less annually and on small businesses with annual turnovers of N100 million or less.
At the same time, the Presidency said higher-income individuals and profitable enterprises that had avoided or evaded taxes under the cover of informality for decades would now contribute a fairer share.
It said the guiding principle of the reforms was that those with greater capacity should shoulder a larger portion of the tax burden while vulnerable households and micro-enterprises receive greater protection.
"Nigerians understand that to have a fine, working nation, we all must contribute to her prosperity," the statement added.
Highlighting achievements in the health sector, the Presidency said the Federal Government, working with state governments, had expanded efforts to rehabilitate and upgrade primary healthcare facilities, strengthen tertiary hospitals, improve access to essential medicines and expand maternal and child healthcare interventions.
It said programmes supporting free caesarean sections for eligible indigent mothers were now operational in more than 100 healthcare facilities nationwide.
According to the statement, thousands of women from Sokoto to Port Harcourt had already benefited from the initiative.
The Presidency also disclosed that three world-class cancer centres had become operational in Kubwa, Enugu and Katsina, while cancer centres in 13 states had been expanded.
It further stated that by April 2026, more than 3,000 primary healthcare centres had been revitalised, upgraded and refurbished, while over 78,000 frontline health workers had been retrained within three years.
Describing the achievements as verifiable, the Presidency said they represented significant progress in the health sector.
On education, the Presidency said the Federal Government and states had rehabilitated schools, invested in technical and vocational education, promoted digital learning and expanded access to tertiary education financing.
It disclosed that the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), working with federal and state governments, had embarked on over 11,000 projects, describing the intervention as one of the boldest efforts in Nigeria's history to reposition primary and secondary education.
The statement also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying more than 1.64 million students had benefited from tuition and upkeep loans.
According to the Presidency, over N303 billion has been disbursed through 300 higher institutions, describing the initiative as unprecedented.
It added that Nigerians had witnessed on social media how relieved and jubilant students had become following access to the loans.
The Presidency also credited President Tinubu with ending prolonged strikes by university lecturers, saying students could now complete four-year degree programmes within four years, bringing relief to parents and students alike.
On infrastructure, the Presidency said investments continued across transport, energy and public works, including federal highways and bridges, rail modernisation, inland dry ports and logistics, power transmission and distribution, airport redevelopment, gas infrastructure, housing and digital connectivity.
It added that many state governments had also accelerated investments in roads, urban renewal, healthcare and education following stronger fiscal inflows.
According to the statement, the cumulative effect of these investments would reduce logistics costs, support private-sector growth and contribute to Nigeria's 49 per cent increase in dollar GDP and 69 per cent increase in naira GDP since 2024.
"There is a lot more to come," the Presidency said.
The Presidency insisted that Nigeria was not over-borrowed, arguing that the country's revenue-to-GDP ratio remained among the lowest globally, limiting government's capacity to finance public services without borrowing.
It said recent reforms had already begun improving revenue mobilisation, broadening the tax base, reducing leakages and strengthening public financial management.
While acknowledging that the process was ongoing, the Presidency maintained that improvements in revenue collection were reducing fiscal vulnerabilities.
According to the statement, the debt debate should therefore focus not only on how much Nigeria borrows but also on whether its capacity to generate and manage revenue continues to improve.
It maintained that with a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 40 per cent and debt service-to-revenue ratio below 60 per cent, allegations of over-borrowing were alarmist.
Responding to Atiku's claim of a N7.98 trillion oil windfall, the Presidency said no such windfall existed.
It explained that while Brent crude averaged around $90 per barrel during the first half of 2026 compared with the budget benchmark of $64.85, Nigeria's average daily production of about 1.6 million barrels fell below the projected 1.84 million barrels, offsetting much of the expected gains.
It further noted that part of Nigeria's crude production had already been pledged to service loans obtained to finance the fuel subsidy regime inherited from previous administrations.
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The Presidency said many analysts wrongly estimated government oil revenue simply by multiplying crude prices by daily production volumes.
Such calculations, it argued, ignored production costs, the share of crude belonging to oil companies and existing forward sale contracts used to hedge against price volatility.
Onanuga challenged Atiku to disclose the calculations behind his claim of a N7.98 trillion oil windfall.
The Presidency concluded that history would judge governments not by the popularity of their decisions at the time but by whether those decisions ultimately strengthened or weakened the nation.
It argued that President Tinubu had chosen to dismantle long-standing policy distortions that previous administrations acknowledged but repeatedly postponed.
While admitting that the reforms had imposed undeniable costs and that legitimate concerns remained over implementation, inflation and social protection, the Presidency insisted that describing the programme as financial recklessness ignored the broader context of structural reforms, fiscal rebalancing and efforts to improve macroeconomic stability.
It called for a mature national conversation that assessed reforms based on measurable outcomes rather than isolated episodes.
The statement also urged critics to engage with what it described as the philosophical underpinnings of the administration's economic agenda rather than what it termed "pedestrianism."
According to the Presidency, Nigerians ultimately seek improved living standards, which require immediate sacrifices.
It argued that the worst effects of the reforms were experienced in 2023 and 2024.
The statement said inflation had fallen to 14.4 per cent in November 2025 before rising to 15.91 per cent following disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict, but expressed confidence that inflation would decline towards 12 per cent by the end of the year.
As part of measures to cushion the impact of the reforms, the Presidency said the Federal Government recently launched the ward-centric NG-CARES, HOPE and SOLID programmes worth more than $3 billion to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and support vulnerable communities.
It added that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs was also implementing cash transfer programmes targeting 15 million vulnerable households to help lift them out of extreme poverty.
The Presidency maintained that although Nigeria had not yet reached its desired economic destination, the country had moved beyond the period of severe structural distortions and fiscal waste.
It said the Tinubu administration would continue implementing reforms aimed at expanding opportunities, strengthening institutions and improving the lives of Nigerians, dismissing contrary narratives as attempts by "political carpetbaggers" to gain public attention.
