Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticized President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms, accusing the administration of impoverishing Nigerians through a sharp devaluation of the naira. Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London on Wednesday, Obasanjo said the currency lost 300 per cent of its value overnight after reforms undertaken in 2023. The naira fell from N500 to a dollar to N1,500 to a dollar, he noted, meaning every Nigerian became 300 per cent poorer. This devaluation has made Nigeria "the poverty capital of the world," Obasanjo argued, referring to the country having the largest number of poor people globally.
Obasanjo rejected arguments that Tinubu needed more time to complete his reforms, saying he saw no evidence of economic improvement. "You impoverish your people, and you want to see impoverishment through?" he remarked. He contended that the programmes Tinubu had put in place were "not in the best interest of Nigerians." On fuel subsidy removal, Obasanjo acknowledged that petrol affected everything but argued that much of what Nigeria called subsidy was actually corruption that should be addressed first. He said a country in severe economic difficulty must focus on curbing corruption, wastefulness and unnecessary spending while boosting production.
The Central Bank of Nigeria unified the exchange-rate windows on June 14, 2023, when the official exchange rate stood at about N460.8 to the dollar. The naira fell 36 per cent against the dollar on the official market, with the official rate reaching about N1,333.54 on October 19. It had fallen to a low of about N1,607.05 in early May 2025. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that headline inflation stood at 14.63 per cent in September, down from 20.98 per cent a year earlier, though food inflation remained elevated at 19.59 per cent. Real GDP grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said on August 19 that subsidy removal saved N15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025. Attempts to obtain a response from the Presidency were unsuccessful. Obasanjo's criticism carries weight given his status as a former leader, but his assessment of the reforms' effects differs sharply from government claims about long-term economic benefits.
For Nigerian savers, borrowers and business owners, the naira's decline means imported goods cost significantly more, while those earning in naira face reduced purchasing power internationally and for foreign purchases.