Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has strongly criticised the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing the administration of worsening poverty and weakening the purchasing power of millions of Nigerians. Speaking on Wednesday, October 21, at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, United Kingdom, Obasanjo argued that the sharp depreciation of the naira and the removal of petrol subsidies had imposed severe economic hardship on households. He questioned whether the reforms had delivered meaningful benefits to ordinary Nigerians and challenged claims that the country was experiencing a sustainable economic recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obasanjo focused particularly on the naira\u2019s depreciation following the foreign exchange reforms introduced in June 2023, when the Tinubu administration moved to unify Nigeria\u2019s multiple exchange rates. The former president noted that the currency had weakened from approximately 500 naira to the United States dollar to around 1,500 naira, substantially reducing its international value. He argued that the change had made imported goods more expensive and weakened the financial position of households dependent on salaries, savings and local earnings. Obasanjo described the consequences as devastating for ordinary Nigerians, arguing that the government had failed to adequately protect citizens from the immediate economic effects of its policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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President Bola Tinubu\u2019s administration has defended its economic reforms as necessary measures to address longstanding structural weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his remarks, Obasanjo claimed that the currency\u2019s depreciation had effectively made Nigerians 300 percent poorer. He argued that an economy cannot be judged solely by policy announcements or improvements in selected financial indicators when citizens experience declining purchasing power. The former president also described Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world, reflecting his concern about the number of people struggling to afford basic necessities. His 300 percent assessment was a political characterisation of economic hardship rather than a formal poverty statistic, since exchange rate depreciation does not translate directly into an identical percentage decline in every household\u2019s income or standard of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former president also criticised the removal of petrol subsidies, one of the first major economic decisions announced by Tinubu after assuming office on May 29, 2023. Obasanjo questioned whether the government had adequately addressed corruption, inefficiency and financial irregularities associated with the previous subsidy system before withdrawing support for fuel prices. He argued that policies intended to eliminate waste should not transfer excessive financial burdens to citizens already confronting unemployment, low incomes and inadequate public services. His criticism highlighted the continuing disagreement over whether the subsidy removal was implemented with sufficient protection for vulnerable households and small businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obasanjo further questioned arguments that Tinubu should be granted another presidential term to consolidate his economic reforms. He challenged the assumption that continuing the existing policies would automatically improve living standards, insisting that their results should be measured against the economic conditions facing citizens. The former president also compared Nigeria\u2019s currency performance with Ghana\u2019s, pointing to the Ghanaian cedi\u2019s recovery under President John Mahama as an example of a different economic trajectory. However, currency performance alone does not provide a complete comparison of the two economies, which differ in structure, fiscal conditions and monetary policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent economic figures highlight the complexity of Nigeria\u2019s situation. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, annual headline inflation eased to 14.63 percent in September 2026 from 15.39 percent in August, although food inflation remained elevated at 19.59 percent. The World Bank also reported that Nigeria\u2019s economy grew by 4.2 percent during the first half of 2026, compared with 3.9 percent during the corresponding period of 2025. Despite these improvements, the bank estimated that 69.6 percent of Nigerians lived below the lower middle income poverty threshold in 2025, illustrating the continuing gap between macroeconomic recovery and household welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The controversy reflects a longstanding national debate over economic management and structural reforms. During Obasanjo\u2019s presidency between 1999 and 2007, Nigeria introduced banking sector reforms, telecommunications liberalisation and debt restructuring measures aimed at improving economic stability. A major historical achievement occurred in 2005, when Nigeria reached an agreement with the Paris Club of creditors that eventually enabled the country to eliminate approximately 18 billion dollars in external debt through debt relief and related payments. However, successive administrations have continued to struggle with petroleum dependence, weak infrastructure, unemployment and widespread poverty. These persistent challenges have shaped the competing arguments over whether Tinubu\u2019s reforms represent necessary economic restructuring or policies that have placed excessive pressure on citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Tinubu administration has consistently defended its economic programme, maintaining that the removal of petrol subsidies and liberalisation of the foreign exchange market were necessary to correct longstanding distortions and strengthen public finances. In an October 11 statement, the presidency welcomed the World Bank\u2019s latest assessment, which indicated improvements in government revenues, foreign reserves and economic growth. The administration also highlighted the stabilisation of poverty rates and reiterated its commitment to targeted cash transfers, agricultural investment and improved public services. On October 21, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the government intended to rely increasingly on private investment rather than additional public borrowing, while maintaining the decision to end petrol subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of October 23, 2026, Obasanjo\u2019s criticism has intensified the political debate surrounding Tinubu\u2019s economic record ahead of the January 2027 presidential election. The administration points to improving growth, declining inflation and stronger fiscal indicators as evidence that its reforms are beginning to work, while critics maintain that the benefits have not sufficiently reached ordinary citizens. The World Bank has similarly acknowledged improvements in economic stability while warning that household incomes remain under pressure and poverty is still widespread. The central challenge for the government is to translate its reported economic gains into affordable food, sustainable employment, improved public services and measurable reductions in poverty. With Nigerians continuing to confront high living costs, the effectiveness of Tinubu\u2019s reforms is likely to remain a defining issue in the country\u2019s economic and political debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has strongly criticised the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing the administration of worsening poverty and weakening the purchasing power of millions of Nigerians. Speaking on Wednesday, October 21, at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, United Kingdom, Obasanjo argued that the sharp depreciation of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":38382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[3699,2096,4,5,3,1138],"tags":[12185,3412,2148,18643,12502,15068,25875,22839,6276,14078,12605,20733,564,25876,25874,25877,24276,25143,15066,17816,2358],"class_list":["post-38381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-economics","category-featured","category-international","category-naija-news","category-politics","tag-2027-general-elections","tag-bola-ahmed-tinubu","tag-central-bank-of-nigeria","tag-cost-of-living","tag-economic-hardship","tag-foreign-exchange-reforms","tag-fuel-prices","tag-inflation-in-nigeria","tag-naira-depreciation","tag-nigeria-economy","tag-nigeria-latest-news","tag-nigeria-politics","tag-nigerian-economic-policies","tag-nigerian-poverty-crisis","tag-nigerians-getting-poorer","tag-olusegun-obasanjo","tag-petrol-subsidy-removal","tag-tinubu-administration","tag-tinubu-economic-reforms","tag-world-bank"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/AJz3lmlonr9lWoSD45_p19E-cfubA2PdXLuvsLEqEpkCLL_fve5tynDWH8OmWsp5Ut-C9NHbPq2zciSS0DWT2ExY6rfGZjKsamYD3hoOHc6DDvfo96IDql5BrBRPsbxyC2X2DyOrAOu0f-hJdpt9-MukJ4aX7P5lOhaD5OXwowI.jpg?fit=864%2C520&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38383,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38381\/revisions\/38383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Petrol prices and transportation expenses have remained major concerns for Nigerian households since the removal of fuel subsidies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food prices and household expenses remain major concerns for Nigerians despite improvements in some economic indicators.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nigeria\u2019s foreign exchange policies remain central to the debate over economic reforms, currency stability and household purchasing power.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n