A policy group, the Independent Media and Policy Initiatives (IMPI), says President Bola Tinubu has turned around Nigeria’s economy by deploying economic tools.
The group said this in a statement issued by its Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju.
Akinsiju said that it was the best way to wean the country off decades of profligacy.
He said, like the U.S.A., Nigeria has had periods of decadent public values and the normalisation of profligacy in high offices.
“Before the economic reforms initiated by Tinubu in May 2023, the Nigerian economy was characterised by a deeply entrenched oligarchy.
“A small group of political elites, military officers, and business moguls controlled state resources.
“This structure was sustained by a patronage system, particularly in the oil sector, which benefited a select few while the majority of the population faced poverty,” he said.
Akinsiju said that the “pre-reform” economic landscape was defined by several key oligarchic and structural features.
He said that a significant portion of the oligarchy benefited from the fuel subsidy system, which was described as being rife with corruption.
“The existence of multiple exchange rate windows allowed “FX subsidy merchants” to exploit the gap between official and parallel market rates, effectively draining government finances.
“Economic power was heavily concentrated in the petroleum industry, with access to oil revenues controlled by those in power and their close associates.
“By the time Tinubu assumed office, Nigeria was spending approximately 97 per cent of its total revenue on debt servicing, a situation described as disastrous, ” he said.
Akinsiju said that data showed that Nigeria’s export profile changed significantly after 2014, resetting to a lower range that has persisted in spite of periodic recoveries.
He said that Nigeria reached a peak crude oil and gas export value of 93.89 billion dollars in 2011, the highest in the dataset.
“At this time, however, we can submit with much assertion that the Federal Government has, indeed, taken Nigeria out of the woods.
“This is evidenced by a turnaround economy that shows an indication of stability while unlocking the stranglehold of the oligarchs on the nation’s economy.
“The IMPI also identified some of the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration that set the country on the path of economic stability,” he said.
According to him, to support our assertion of an ideology-based economic turnaround, we itemise some of the key tools of progressivism that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal administration has deployed to accomplish the present feat.
“These include fiscal policy and taxation, redistributive spending, estate and wealth taxes, labour and wealth protection, monetary and financial reforms, infrastructure development, and public investment and ownership,” he said.
Akinsiju also provided some insights into the impact of economic progressivism on the landscape.
According to him, allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2025 experienced a significant surge.
“The three tiers of government shared more than N33.27 trillion in the first eleven months, a 30 per cent increase over the same period in 2024.
“This growth, driven by subsidy removal and exchange rate reforms, included record monthly distributions, such as N3.64 trillion in September 2025, significantly boosting subnational revenue.
“Inflation, while still in double digits, has dropped by over half from a peak of 34.6 per cent in November 2024, to 15.10 per cent in January 2026, reflecting over nine months of consistent disinflation,” he said.
He said that the situation had largely restored real purchasing power for households and businesses, with Nigerians now reaping the benefits of the exchange rate unification.
According to him, Nigeria’s food inflation rate eased to 8.89 per cent year-on-year in January 2026.
“This marks its first single-digit reading in 128 months and the lowest level in 174 months.
” The January Consumer Price Index (CPI) report shows food inflation declined from 29.63 per cent recorded in January 2025 to 8.89 per cent in January 2026, a sharp 20.73 percentage point year-on-year drop.
“The 8.89 per cent reading is the first time food inflation has fallen below 10 per cent since May 2015, when it stood at 9.78 per cent.
“January 2026, therefore, ends a stretch of more than 10 years of persistent double-digit food inflation.
More significantly, the January figure is the lowest since August 2011, when food inflation was 8.66 per cent,” Akinsiju said. (NAN).
