*Says Nigeria’s reserves bleeding despite huge oil windfall
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has declared that his forthcoming engagement with policy and institutional stakeholders in the United States would be driven by one overriding concern: the deterioration of security, governance, and economic stability in Nigeria.
Atiku stated that Nigeria was facing a full-blown internal crisis, one that could no longer be downplayed, politicised, or explained away.
From the ravaging violence in the North-West and North-East, to the persistent bloodshed in the Middle Belt, and the growing spread of kidnapping and criminality across the country, Atiku warned that the Nigerian state was steadily losing its grip on its most fundamental responsibility, which was the protection of lives and property.
According to him, the situation has moved beyond isolated incidents to a pattern of systemic failure.
“Communities are being overrun, livelihoods destroyed, and citizens abandoned to their fate,” he said, arguing that any government that could not guarantee basic security forfeits the moral basis of its mandate.
In a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the he pointed to the deepening economic hardship confronting Nigerians, describing it as both severe and avoidable.
He noted that rising inflation, a weakened currency, and collapsing purchasing power had pushed millions into distress, while policy inconsistency and lack of strategic direction continued to erode confidence in the economy.
''Nigerians are not just tired, they are being stretched to the limits of endurance,'' he said.
Atiku further raised concerns about the state of Nigeria’s democratic institutions, warning that declining public confidence in governance, accountability, and the electoral process posed a direct threat to national stability.
As the country moved toward another election cycle, he insisted that any attempt to undermine transparency or manipulate outcomes would carry serious consequences for both unity and legitimacy.
Addressing the anticipated criticism of his international engagement, Atiku said, “telling the truth about Nigeria is not unpatriotic.”
He rejected the notion that engaging global partners amounted to inviting foreign interference, stressing that Nigeria did not exist in isolation and could not pretend that its internal failures had no external implications.
He maintained that the world already saw what was happening, but added that the real question was whether Nigerian leaders were prepared to confront it honestly.
He reiterated that only Nigerians would decide Nigeria’s leadership, but insisted that international partners have a legitimate interest in the stability, governance standards, and democratic health of a country as strategically important as Nigeria.
According to him, responsible leadership does not hide from scrutiny, it welcomes it as a pathway to improvement.
In a direct message to the current administration, Atiku warned against complacency and deflection, stating that power as not an entitlement but a responsibility, and that Nigerians expected results, not explanations.
He called on the government to urgently reset its priorities, restore public confidence, and demonstrate a clear, credible strategy for addressing insecurity and economic decline.
To Nigerians, he delivered a blunt reminder, saying no nation survives in silence. He urged citizens to remain vigilant, engaged, and unyielding in their demand for accountability, emphasising that real change would not come from outside the country but from the collective will of its people.
Atiku concluded that Nigeria stood at a critical juncture. The choice, he said, was between confronting hard truths now or allowing the country to drift further into instability.
For him, the moment demanded courage, honesty, and decisive leadership, stressing that anything less would be a disservice to the nation and its future.
In another development, he has raised the alarm over what he described as the continued decline in Nigeria’s external reserves despite a huge crude oil windfall due to the Middle East crisis.
Atiku spoke in a statement by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday.
Nigeria’s foreign reserves dropped to $48.37 billion as of 29th April 2026, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s data.
This came despite a N5 trillion oil windfall within this period.
Atiku said the development was a contradiction begging for answers from President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to him, the contradiction exposed a dangerous pattern of economic mismanagement under Tinubu’s administration.
“This is not stability—it is a fragile illusion sustained by burning through national savings. A nation cannot consume its buffers to mask policy failures while ignoring the structural weaknesses undermining its currency.
“Defending the naira without fixing productivity, exports, and investor confidence is akin to pouring water into a basket,” the statement said.
He, however, issued two warnings: “First, this windfall must not be squandered on recurrent expenditure or political patronage. It must be deployed deliberately to provide targeted relief to Nigerians—through structured interventions that cushion the impact of fuel price increases, stabilise food supply chains, and support the most vulnerable. To do otherwise is to profit from the suffering of the people while offering them nothing in return.
“Second, the government must abandon the reckless defense of the naira through reserve depletion and instead invest this windfall in long-term economic strength. Priority must be given to domestic refining capacity, critical infrastructure, and policies that boost non-oil exports and restore investor confidence. The naira cannot be defended by force; it must be strengthened by fundamentals.
“Let it be said without equivocation: windfalls are tests of leadership. They reveal whether a government is committed to sustainable nation-building or addicted to short-term optics. Nigeria’s external reserves are not a political war chest, and this oil windfall is not a license for fiscal indiscipline.
“Nigerians deserve honesty, discipline, and foresight—not illusion, waste, and economic brinkmanship.”
Crude oil prices surged to around $101 and $108 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude from less than $70 per barrel in early February 2026.
