Presidency on Sunday debunked claims by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that Nigeria gained N7.98 trillion as windfall from the recent Middle East war, between the United States of America and the Republic of Iran.
- +Presidency debunks claims of N7.98trn oil windfall
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement, titled ” Facts, Not Fear: A Point By Point Response To Atiku Abubakar On Nigeria’s Reform Journey”, said “There is no such windfall of N7.98 trillion”.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement, titled ” Facts, Not Fear: A Point By Point Response To Atiku Abubakar On Nigeria’s Reform Journey”, said “There is no such windfall of N7.98 trillion”.
The Presidency lampooned Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, for accusing “the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of fiscal recklessness, citing excess borrowing in the 2024 budget, questioning the removal of fuel subsidy, criticising tax reforms, concocting an oil windfall of N7.98 trillion, and suggesting that Nigeria is drifting economically.”
Presidency while explaining that any incremental revenue from higher oil prices is reflected in the monthly FAAC figures, revealed that the “average price for the half-year 2026 for Brent is around $90 compared to the $64.85 benchmark, the average daily production fell short at about 1.6m bpd compared to the forecast of 1.84m bpd”.
Presidency stressed that Nigeria’s oil production shortfall partly offset the price premium.
“In addition, some crude volume had been pledged for loans used to pay for the wasteful subsidy in the past, which the President was bold enough to remove, stopping the bleeding but not immediately translating into available revenue.
“The convenient mistake many analysts make is to multiply the oil price by the daily crude production volume to determine revenue to the government”
It explained that such analysis often ignore the “cost of production, the share of crude belonging to the oil-producing companies and the impact of crude sale contracts such as forward contracts designed to hedge against price volatility”
The Presidency, while urging Atiku Abubakar “to show the workings for his N7.98 trillion oil windfall”, noted that ” history rarely remembers governments for the popularity of their decisions in the moment. It remembers whether those decisions ultimately strengthened or weakened the nation”.
Presidency said President Tinubu’s administration has chosen to dismantle several long-standing policy distortions that previous governments acknowledged but often deferred.
The government however, accepted that the reforms carried undeniable costs, adding that “legitimate questions remain about implementation, inflation, and social protection.
“Yet describing the entire programme as “financial recklessness” overlooks the broader context of structural change, fiscal rebalancing, and efforts to improve macroeconomic stability.”
It stated that a mature national conversation should move beyond slogans, by asseing reforms against measurable outcomes rather than isolated episodes.
Presidency, while also welcoming elevated discourses that examine the philosophical underpinnings of President Tinubu’s approach to the economy, rejected government hat it described as “pedestrianism”, adding that “Nigerians need elevated standards of living, which requires immediate sacrifices”
The Nigerian government reiterated that the “worst is over, as the effects of the necessary economic chemotherapy were more severe in 2023 and 2024”
“All economic watchers are aware that in November 2025, inflation rates in Nigeria fell to 14.4%. Because of the disruption caused by the Middle East War, the rate shot up to 15.91%. But it has begun another descent as economic analysts project that inflation will trend towards 12% by the end of the year.”
The Presidency also explained that as part of measures to bring relief to Nigerians severely impacted by the economic reforms, the Federal Government recently launched the ward-centric NG-CARES, HOPE and SOLID programmes worth more than $3 billion to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education, and support for vulnerable communities.
“This is in addition to the Humanitarian Ministry’s cash transfers to 15 million vulnerable households, helping to lift them out of extreme poverty”
The Presidency, I hope also noting that Nigeria’s economy is not yet where it aspires to be, added that It has shifted from where it ” stood at the height of its structural distortions or in the bygone years of fiscal waste and slackness.
” The fundamental reforms will continue to expand opportunity, strengthen institutions, and deliver tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerians. That is the focus of President Tinubu. All else is an attempt by political carpetbaggers to gain attention”.
