Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic strategy, arguing that Nigeria cannot reach its ambition of a $1 trillion economy while living standards continue to deteriorate.
Key takeaways
- Atiku said most Nigerians have endured severe poverty during the past three years despite reported improvements in macroeconomic indicators.
- He urged Nigeria to move away from an economic model centred on exporting unprocessed raw materials.
- Inflation slowed to 15.39% in August 2026.
- The value of raw-material exports increased 106%, reaching N3.84 trillion in the first half of 2026 from N1.86 trillion a year earlier.
Atiku challenges Tinubu’s economic record
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku renewed his criticism of Tinubu’s policies. He said the president’s target of expanding Nigeria’s economy to $1 trillion was incompatible with policies that, in his view, were making citizens poorer.
Atiku contrasted the government’s claims of stronger macroeconomic performance with what he described as worsening conditions for ordinary people. He said the majority of Nigerians had been subjected to the burden of extreme poverty over the past three years, despite the administration highlighting improvements in headline economic statistics.
“A $1 trillion economy cannot be created by impoverishing the people,” Atiku said. He added that prosperous countries were not built in that manner and called for Nigeria to end its role as a “loading bay” for raw materials, pointing instead to the need for greater domestic processing and value addition.
Inflation eases as raw-material exports surge
Atiku’s remarks came as Nigeria recorded a decline in its inflation rate to 15.39% in August 2026. At the same time, the country’s raw-material exports rose sharply, increasing by 106% year on year.
Export proceeds from those materials climbed from N1.86 trillion in the first six months of 2025 to N3.84 trillion during the corresponding period of 2026, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The contrasting data highlights the tension between improved aggregate indicators and concerns about poverty, industrial development and the distribution of economic gains.
