President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to present Nigerians with a detailed account of the gains, costs and implications of the economic reforms introduced by his administration since 2023.
Tinubu, in a statement posted on his social media handles on Wednesday, said the government’s reforms scorecard was designed to show Nigerians what had been achieved, what the policies had cost and the economic consequences that had been avoided through the reforms.
The President said the difficult decisions taken by his administration were intended to build a stronger economy and improve the country’s long-term prospects.
“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,” Tinubu said.
He said Oyedele had been mandated to explain the figures, policy choices, progress recorded and areas where further work remained.
“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,” the President added.
Meanwhile, speaking on Wednesday at a media conference on the government’s reform scorecard between 2023 and 2026, Oyedele disclosed that savings from the removal of petrol subsidy had mobilised N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
According to him, the Federal Government received N5.4 trillion of the amount, while N10.4 trillion was distributed to state and local governments.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government generated N3.1 trillion in additional independent revenue during the period, largely through increased remittances from government-owned entities.
He said the combination of subsidy savings, additional independent revenue and increased borrowing gave the Federal Government N20.4 trillion in incremental resources.
“Altogether, the federal government’s incremental resources over the period — subsidy savings, independent revenue, and incremental borrowing — came to N20.4 trillion,” Oyedele said.
He explained that the Federal Government raised an additional N11.9 trillion through borrowing, stressing that the figure would have been significantly higher and potentially destabilising without the fiscal space created by the reforms.
Despite the additional resources, Oyedele said the Federal Government incurred N30.64 trillion in incremental expenditure during the period.
He listed N9.39 trillion spent on wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances for public servants, while N9.37 trillion went into servicing external debt.
Another N6.5 trillion, he said, was committed to strategic infrastructure.
Oyedele noted that expenditure on higher wages alone exceeded the Federal Government’s entire share of the savings generated from the removal of petrol subsidy.
“The incremental amount that the federal government spends paying higher wages is more than the entire savings that the federal government earned from subsidy removal,” he said.
The minister also attributed the sharp increase in naira-denominated external debt servicing costs largely to the depreciation of the naira following the exchange-rate reforms.
He explained that although the dollar value of the country’s foreign debt remained unchanged, the amount of naira required to service the debt increased substantially because of the weaker exchange rate.
“If we were paying $1 million before in interest on our foreign debt, it is still the same $1 million, but instead of N460, it’s now N1,415,” Oyedele said.
He stressed that debt obligations had to be met as scheduled because delays or defaults could have serious consequences for the economy.
Oyedele said the figures should not be interpreted as evidence that the reforms were primarily designed to raise government revenue. Rather, he said the central objective was to tackle systemic distortions and corruption associated with the former fuel subsidy regime and the artificially managed foreign exchange market.
