Abuja: A policy group, the Independent Media and Policy Initiatives (IMPI), says President Bola Tinubu has turned around Nigeria’s economy by deploying economic tools. The group said this in a statement issued by its Chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, emphasizing the need to wean the country off decades of profligacy.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Akinsiju pointed out that Nigeria, much like the U.S.A., has experienced periods of decadent public values and the normalization of profligacy in high offices. Prior to the economic reforms initiated by Tinubu in May 2023, the Nigerian economy was dominated by a deeply entrenched oligarchy. A small group of political elites, military officers, and business moguls controlled state resources, sustained by a patronage system, particularly in the oil sector. This system benefited a select few while the majority of the population faced poverty.
Akinsiju described the ‘pre-reform’ economic landscape as being defined by several key oligarchic and structural features. He noted that many within the oligarchy benefited from the fuel subsidy system, which was plagued with corruption. Additionally, the existence of multiple exchange rate windows allowed ‘FX subsidy merchants’ to exploit the gap between official and parallel market rates, draining government finances. Economic power was concentrated in the petroleum industry, with access to oil revenues controlled by those in power and their close associates. By the time Tinubu assumed office, Nigeria was spending approximately 97 percent of its total revenue on debt servicing, a situation Akinsiju termed disastrous.
Data showed that Nigeria’s export profile changed significantly after 2014, resetting to a lower range despite periodic recoveries. Nigeria reached a peak crude oil and gas export value of $93.89 billion in 2011, the highest in the dataset. Akinsiju asserted that the Federal Government has taken significant strides in leading Nigeria out of economic difficulties. The IMPI identified some of the policies and programs of the Tinubu administration that have set the country on the path to economic stability, indicating a turnaround economy that shows signs of stability while loosening the grip of the oligarchs on the nation’s economy.
According to Akinsiju, to support the assertion of an ideology-based economic turnaround, some key tools of progressivism deployed by the Tinubu administration include fiscal policy and taxation, redistributive spending, estate and wealth taxes, labor and wealth protection, monetary and financial reforms, infrastructure development, and public investment and ownership. Akinsiju also highlighted the impact of economic progressivism on the landscape, noting a significant surge in allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2025.
The three tiers of government shared more than N33.27 trillion in the first eleven months, a 30 percent increase over the same period in 2024. This growth, driven by subsidy removal and exchange rate reforms, included record monthly distributions, such as N3.64 trillion in September 2025, significantly boosting subnational revenue. Inflation, while still in double digits, has dropped by over half from a peak of 34.6 percent in November 2024 to 15.10 percent in January 2026, reflecting over nine months of consistent disinflation. This situation has largely restored real purchasing power for households and businesses, with Nigerians now reaping the benefits of exchange rate unification.
According to Akinsiju, Nigeria’s food inflation rate eased to 8.89 percent year-on-year in January 2026, marking its first single-digit reading in 128 months and the lowest level in 174 months. The January Consumer Price Index (CPI) report shows food inflation declined from 29.63 percent recorded in January 2025 to 8.89 percent in January 2026, a sharp 20.73 percentage point year-on-year drop. The 8.89 percent reading marks the first time food inflation has fallen below 10 percent since May 2015, when it stood at 9.78 percent. January 2026, therefore, ends a stretch of more than 10 years of persistent double-digit food inflation.