Oyedele Gives Account of FG’s Reforms After President’s Directive

• Says fuel subsidy savings added N15.8tn to federation account in 30 months 

•Discloses FG borrowed N11.9tn, subsidy  removal prevented more debt

• Reveals central govt received N5.4tn, states, LGs got N10.4tn 

•Admits poverty reduction still unfinished business

• Says N9.39tn spent on federal wage adjustments  

•Atiku insists Tinubu must account for N30tn subsidy savings

Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, yesterday acted on President Bola Tinubu’s directive that Nigerians be updated on the gains of his administration’s economic reforms, revealing that a total of N15.8 trillion was paid into the Federation Account between June 2023 and December 2025 as proceeds of subsidy removal.

Of the amount, he disclosed that the federal government got N5.4 trillion within the period, while the 36 states and 774 local governments received N10.4 trillion.

He also stated that the federal government borrowed N11.9 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025, noting that the amount would have been significantly higher without the fiscal space created by its economic reforms.

Oyedele’s public disclosure came hours after Tinubu  declared that Nigerians deserved to know the gains of the economic reforms introduced by his administration over the past three years.

The President, therefore, directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,  to provide an account of the government’s reform scorecard to Nigerians.

The reforms, which began with some of the administration’s most far-reaching policy decisions, including the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market, have significantly altered the structure of the Nigerian economy.

While the government has argued that the measures were necessary to strengthen public finances, attract investment and place the economy on a more sustainable footing, they have also imposed considerable pressures on households and businesses through higher energy costs, inflation and increased operating expenses.

The administration has subsequently pursued measures to boost government revenue, improve tax administration, reduce fiscal leakages and strengthen the country’s fiscal position. It has also introduced measures aimed at attracting private capital, improving the business environment and reducing the economy’s dependence on oil revenues.

Tinubu, who traced the history of the reforms in a statement posted on his verified X handle, @officialABAT, said the government had a responsibility to explain both the gains and costs associated with the policies.

“When we began this journey of reform in 2023, I promised that the difficult decisions we were making would serve the purpose of building an economy that works better for you and a country that is stronger for our children.

“Today, your government presents the reforms scorecard. It sets out what our reforms have achieved, what they have cost us, and the greater costs and harms we have prevented by acting when we did,” he stated.

The President therefore directed Oyedele to give Nigerians an account of the reforms and explain the figures behind the government’s policies. According to him, Nigerians are entitled to know the extent to which the reforms had changed the economy and affected their daily lives.

“You deserve to see the numbers. You deserve to know what has changed and what these reforms mean for you, your family, your business and our country. This is your government. This is your country. This is our account to you,” he added.

But despite the federal government’s disclosures, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, yesterday challenged Tinubu to account for approximately N30 trillion in Federation revenues, deductions, savings and transfers requiring transparent reconciliation, saying the latest July 2026 Federation Account figures showed that the troubling pattern has continued.

However, speaking in Abuja, at a press conference with the theme: “Nigeria’s Reforms Scorecard: The Benefits and Harms Prevented,” Oyedele said the briefing was designed not to declare a victory, but to give an account.

He noted that in the past three years, the administration of Tinubu embarked on major reforms to address age-long economic challenges.

He cited the reforms as the removal of a fuel subsidy that was quietly bankrupting the country, as well as the unification of an exchange rate system that had become a source of arbitrage, distortion and corruption rather than stability.

He said: “What we are discussing today runs in four parts, and I would encourage you to read all four before you write a word. The first is a full account of how the resources were raised and spent. The second sets out, in plain terms, 10 ways these reforms have benefited average Nigerians, and 10 harms they prevented.

“The third is the scorecard itself – twenty-five indicators comparing where we are with the reforms to where we would have been without them. And the fourth is an appendix with the underlying figures, so that anyone – you, your editors, independent analysts – can check our arithmetic and our methodology, rather than simply take our word for it.”

According to him, between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised N15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation. Of this, N5.4 trillion was received by the federal government, while N10.4 trillion was shared to states and local governments, he said.

However, he noted that the federal government approximately had N20.4 trillion in incremental resources during the reference period, while additional expenditures incurred by the government during the same period amounted to approximately N30.64 trillion.

“So the additional borrowing taken for that period of time from June 2023 to December 2025 amounted to N11.9 trillion, a figure that would have been far higher and economically destabilising without the fiscal space the reforms created,” he said.

“Altogether, the federal government’s incremental resources over the period came to N20.4 trillion. That money did not sit idle – it partly funded incremental expenses of N30.64 trillion.

“Of this, N9.39 trillion went to wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances for public servants; N9.37 trillion went to external debt service made necessary by exchange rate depreciation; and N6.5 trillion went into strategic infrastructure – making the top three expenditure lines.

“Every naira of this is accounted for, and the breakdown is in the scorecard we are releasing today. Put another way: of the N20.4 trillion, 58 per cent came from borrowing, 27 per cent from subsidy savings, and 15 per cent from other revenue.

“Against total incremental spending of N30.64 trillion, two-thirds was funded by these new resources, while the remaining third – about N10 trillion – came from the existing revenue base, despite ending the excessive printing of naira.

“That, in itself, is evidence of improved public financial management. And it is instructive that the single largest expenditure line – wage adjustments, at N9.39 trillion – outstripped the federal government’s entire savings from subsidy removal.

“This is evidence that the reform was never introduced for revenue purposes, but to address entrenched corruption in an artificially managed fuel subsidy and foreign exchange market,” Oyedele said.

The minister debunked the dominant impression that subsidy removal created a large pool of cash available to the federal government, stating that rather it reduced a major fiscal burden and the amount of additional borrowing that would otherwise have been required.

“In addition, the federal government earned incremental independent revenue of N3.1 trillion – principally remittances from government-owned entities while N11.9 trillion came from incremental borrowing, a figure that would have been far higher, and economically destabilising, without the fiscal space the reforms created,” he said.

On what the reforms averted, Oyedele stated that it was harder to see what did not happen, but explained that in May 2023, a total of 27 states could not reliably pay salaries.

No such state exists currently, he observed, adding that on the pre-reform trajectory, government’s estimate was that no fewer than 30 states would be in that position by now, translating to a majority of the federation.

On another score, Oyedele observed that the official exchange rate premium over the parallel market, once above 60 per cent, is now under 5 per cent.

If left unaddressed, he said government’s projection was that  it would be above 150 per cent, with the naira simply unavailable at any official rate for most Nigerians and businesses.

He added that the legacy Ways and Means stock, which stood at N30 trillion has been curtailed rather than left to double.

While not painting an all-rosy picture, on the flip side, the minister however, pointed out that since the reforms kicked in, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) had risen from 18.5 per cent to 26.5 per cent “plainly as the cost of stabilisation, not a hidden win.”

He also noted that the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) has risen from roughly N185 a litre to between N1,100 and N1,400.

“That is a major felt cost, and I will not stand here and tell you otherwise. What I will say is what the counterfactual shows: on the pre-reform path, petrol would likely be simultaneously unavailable at the old official price and trading above N3,000 on the black market – a worse cost, paid in scarcity as well as money, with nothing gained in return,” Oyedele said.

He also painted what he described a candid assessment on food and household welfare, saying this remains work in progress, as food inflation has eased from 24.82 per cent to 17.52 per cent as at June 2026.

“But poverty and household welfare recovery is still classified in our own scorecard as unfinished business, not a victory lap,” he stated.

On the current standing of the economy, Oyedele explained that headline inflation has eased to 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, down from 22.41 per cent at the May 2023 baseline.

He further alluded to gross foreign reserves standing at $52.5 billion, up from around $35 billion, while net reserves moved from roughly $3 billion to $34.8 billion.

Describing that as “a far more meaningful measure of our actual buffer,” the minister also observed that the stock market has grown from about N31 trillion to roughly N150 trillion in capitalisation, even as real GDP growth has strengthened to 3.89 per cent, against a baseline of 2.31 per cent.

Oyedele stated that the scorecard was a mid-course account, and not the finish line, adding that government will stay the course of reforms, and accelerate how to translate the macro gains into meaningful impact for every household.

According to him, “Implementation of the Nigeria Tax Act will continue, with further fiscal reforms addressing  challenges in our budgeting, reporting and accountability systems. We expect the tax-to-GDP ratio to keep climbing as the harmonised system takes hold.

“On prices, our goal over the medium term is to keep pushing headline inflation toward single digits, without ever going back to the distortionary subsidies that got us into this position in the first place.

“On investment, we intend to keep the exchange rate unified and predictable, because predictability, more than any single incentive package, is what is now drawing capital back into our country.

“We will improve the quality and priority of spending in the most impactful areas. And on the areas this scorecard honestly marks as unfinished business – poverty and household welfare chief among them – the next phase of our work is squarely about translating macroeconomic stability into relief that households actually feel: expanding cash transfers to the most vulnerable, deepening agricultural interventions to bring food prices down further, and working with states and local governments to ensure that shared prosperity is delivered from Abuja to every state and every ward in all 774 local government councils.”

He called for constructive criticism of the government, when necessary.

Meanwhile, Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said his earlier reconciliation of published Federation Account figures had identified approximately N28 trillion requiring explanation up to June 2026, but the July figures have raised fresh questions and pushed the cumulative amount requiring proper public accounting towards N30 trillion.

“The question President Tinubu must answer remains painfully simple: Where is the money?” Atiku said.

“For July 2026, gross statutory revenue stood at N4.359 trillion, while the Federation Account Allocation Committee approved a total distribution of N3.007 trillion to the federal government, 36 states and 774 local government councils.”

Atiku said the July figures were further evidence that Nigerians deserve a comprehensive reconciliation of the enormous revenues flowing into the Federation Account and the deductions made before distribution.

“The madness continues. Month after month, trillions of naira enter the Federation accounts, and month after month enormous amounts are removed under different classifications before the balance is distributed.

“Our reconciliation previously identified approximately N28 trillion requiring explanation up to June 2026. July shows that the pattern has continued. The cumulative amount of Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related funds requiring transparent reconciliation is now approaching N30 trillion.

“If the Tinubu administration disputes that figure, the answer is not another press statement. Publish the ledger.”

The former Vice President recalled that in January 2024, N2.068 trillion was reported as available revenue, but only N1.149 trillion was distributed. In June 2025, N4.232 trillion was available, while N1.818 trillion was shared. By June 2026, N4.501 trillion was reported as available, but only N2.551 trillion was distributed.

“These are not accounting footnotes. This is the wealth of the Nigerian people. These are also government figures, not ours. The accounts are in the custody of the government, not the opposition. Therefore, the burden is on President Tinubu and his administration to tell Nigerians what happened to their money.

“Government cannot demand that citizens prove what happened to public funds whose collection, custody, deductions and disbursement are exclusively under its control. Publish the accounts, identify every deduction and beneficiary, show the transfers, show the savings, show the balances and show the dates.”

Atiku said the administration must particularly account for the revenues and fiscal gains arising from the removal of petroleum and energy subsidies, noting that Nigerians were specifically promised that the painful reforms would release resources for development.

“President Tinubu did not ask Nigerians to endure the agony of subsidy removal so that the proceeds could become unexplained stashed funds beyond public scrutiny.

“The savings and additional revenues generated by these reforms belong to the Nigerian people. They are not the private reserves of the Presidency or any government agency.

“Where is the subsidy-removal windfall?”

Atiku said such resources should have been visibly invested in transformative projects that directly improve the lives and productive capacity of Nigerians.

“By now, the gains from subsidy removal should be financing inter-state rail connectivity, expanding the carrying capacity of our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, strengthening primary healthcare facilities across the country, improving public transportation and investing in infrastructure that reduces the cost of doing business.

“Instead, Nigerians are paying more for petrol, electricity, transportation and food while the government celebrates record revenues without providing an equally transparent account of what happened to the proceeds of their sacrifice.”

The former Vice President described as particularly troubling the contradiction of an administration recording unprecedented revenues and claiming enormous sums as savings and transfers while simultaneously plunging Nigeria deeper into debt.

“If these trillions genuinely exist as savings, where are they and why is Nigeria borrowing so aggressively?

“If the money has been transferred, who received it? If it has been spent, what was it spent on? If it remains in government accounts, what are the balances today?

“These are straightforward questions. President Tinubu should provide straightforward answers.”

Atiku therefore challenged the administration to publish a month-by-month and beneficiary-by-beneficiary reconciliation of Federation revenues from June 2023 to date, clearly separating cost of collection, savings, transfers, interventions, refunds and every other deduction.

“For every naira removed before distribution, Nigerians deserve to know the amount, beneficiary, purpose, date, destination and legal authority.

“Transparency is not achieved by attaching convenient accounting labels to trillions of naira. It is achieved by opening the books.

“President Tinubu asked Nigerians to make sacrifices. Nigerians have sacrificed enough. What they cannot be asked to sacrifice is their constitutional right to know what happened to their money.

“If the approximately N30 trillion is properly accounted for, President Tinubu should publish the ledger and show Nigerians where every naira went.”