Obasanjo Accuses Tinubu’s Reforms of Making Nigerians 300% Poorer

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, arguing that the sharp devaluation of the naira has significantly worsened the financial conditions of Nigerians.

Obasanjo made the remarks on Wednesday at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, United Kingdom, where he questioned the impact of the administration’s economic policies on citizens’ purchasing power and living standards.

The former president said the naira’s depreciation following the reforms introduced in 2023 had substantially eroded Nigerians’ wealth, describing the development as a major contributor to the country’s growing poverty burden.

“We do not live in isolation as a country. We interact with the rest of the world. And overnight, you devalue the currency by 300 per cent. The naira went from N500 to a dollar to N1,500 to a dollar. What that meant was that every Nigerian is made poor by 300 per cent,” Obasanjo said.

He argued that the currency’s depreciation had contributed to Nigeria’s position as what he described as “the poverty capital of the world,” referring to the country’s large population of people living in poverty.

“You cannot say to me that that is good for Nigeria. You cannot say to me that that is good for us in any sense,” he added.

Obasanjo also dismissed calls for patience with Tinubu’s economic reforms, insisting that he had yet to see meaningful improvements in the economy.

“For the economy, I don’t see anything getting better. What policies are you seeing through? You impoverish your people, and you want to see impoverishment through?” he asked.

He maintained that the policies implemented by the Tinubu administration were not serving the best interests of Nigerians.

“The programmes that he has put in place are not in the best interest of Nigerians. Nobody can deny that,” the former president said.

Obasanjo Questions Petrol Subsidy Policy

On petrol subsidy removal, Obasanjo acknowledged the far-reaching impact of fuel prices on the economy, noting that changes in petrol costs affect virtually every sector and household.

However, he argued that corruption accounted for a significant portion of what Nigeria previously classified as subsidy payments, insisting that the government should have prioritised tackling corruption before implementing major economic adjustments.

According to him, countries facing severe economic challenges must focus on curbing corruption, reducing wasteful spending and unnecessary luxury, while strengthening domestic production.

Naira Depreciation and Economic Indicators

The Central Bank of Nigeria unified the foreign exchange market windows on June 14, 2023, as part of efforts to reform the foreign exchange market. Before the move, the official exchange rate stood at approximately N460.8 to the dollar.

The naira subsequently weakened significantly, with the official exchange rate reaching about N1,333.54 per dollar on October 19. It later depreciated to approximately N1,607.05 per dollar in early May 2025.

Despite the currency’s depreciation, recent economic indicators have shown some improvement in headline inflation and economic growth.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported in September that headline inflation stood at 14.63 per cent, compared with 20.98 per cent a year earlier. Food inflation, however, remained elevated at 19.59 per cent, while Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said on August 19 that the removal of petrol subsidies had generated savings of N15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025.

Efforts by our correspondent to obtain a response from the Presidency were unsuccessful, as the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, could not be reached at the time of filing this report.