Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele has claimed that Nigeria could have faced inflation as high as 1,000 per cent without President Bola Tinubu's administration introducing major economic reforms, including the removal of petrol subsidies and changes to the foreign exchange system. Speaking at the 56th Annual Accountants' Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, Oyedele defended the government's policies despite the hardship affecting households and businesses. He said that before the reforms, Nigeria faced foreign exchange shortages, extensive monetary financing and the use of future crude oil production to fund petrol subsidies.
Oyedele attributed much of the current inflationary pressure to the printing of approximately N30 trillion naira under the previous approach. He explained that the inflationary consequences of excessive money creation were not immediate, which is why Nigerians are now experiencing higher prices for goods including bread. The minister rejected the idea of artificially suppressing prices and instead said the government was focused on raising household incomes faster than inflation. He disclosed that the Federal Government had spent twice the amount saved from petrol subsidy removal on salary adjustments and wage awards.
On government finances, Oyedele said the Federal Government had only recently completed the audit of its 2022 financial statements and promised to bring outstanding accounts up to date by the first quarter of 2027. He pledged that subsequent audited accounts would be published within six months of the end of each financial year. On cash transfers, Oyedele said the government had improved beneficiary identification through the National Identification Number system, noting that the World Bank had acknowledged progress in reaching vulnerable households.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu backed the federal reforms at the same conference, saying that the removal of petrol subsidy and unification of exchange rates had strengthened public finances. He cited official figures showing Nigeria's economy grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, while inflation declined to 14.63 per cent in September. Gross external reserves reached $54.93 billion at the end of September, and the non-oil economy expanded by 4.31 per cent.
According to Sanwo-Olu, Federation Account distributions increased from N10 trillion in 2023 to N21.9 trillion in 2025, with more than N20 trillion distributed in the first nine months of 2026. Revenue collections reached N21.6 trillion in the first half of 2026, representing a 49 per cent increase over the same period in 2025. For Lagos State, internally generated revenue reached approximately N1.2 trillion in the first half of 2026, compared with N816 billion for the whole of 2023 and N1.26 trillion in 2024.