The Presidency has responded sharply to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, dismissing his claim that Nigeria is sinking into hunger comparable to the days before the French and Russian revolutions.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Atiku’s remarks are both misleading and detached from reality, stressing that President Bola Tinubu’s reforms are already producing results.
Onanuga pointed to Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, which have surged to nearly $42 billion compared to $32 billion when Tinubu took office. He added that the administration has cleared arrears worth more than $7 billion, including $800 million owed to foreign airlines.
Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), he said headline inflation had fallen for five straight months, while Nigeria posted a record trade surplus with non-oil exports contributing almost equally with crude at a 48:52 ratio.
According to him, states are now receiving unprecedented revenues, enabling them to pay salaries and pensions promptly while still funding capital and social projects.
The Presidency argued that many of today’s economic difficulties stem from mismanagement during PDP’s years in power, when Atiku was Vice President.
It insisted that Tinubu’s administration is working relentlessly to correct those mistakes through bold reforms, and after two years and five months in office, there is every reason to be proud of the progress so far.
