Tinubu’s reforms working, food prices falling – Presidency
The Presidency has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, claiming that food prices are falling, foreign investors are returning and Nigeria’s economy is showing signs of recovery.
The President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the claims in a post on X on Friday, citing the support of 33 governors as evidence of growing confidence in the administration.
Onanuga was reacting to a video shared by Arise TV featuring Obafemi George, a member of the Media and Strategic Communications Committee of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council.
He accused television presenters of promoting opposition claims that the economy had recorded no meaningful improvement since Tinubu assumed office in May 2023.
“TV anchors keep pushing the opposition’s narrative that nothing has changed, positively, indeed, massively, since 2023. Their position has become so ridiculous that they keep parroting the old narrative, and now they question the NBS data on receding inflation. I will advise them to revisit the markets,” he wrote.
The presidential aide claimed that the price of a bag of rice had declined from approximately ₦120,000 to below ₦50,000, adding that the commodity was selling for ₦45,000 in his hometown.
He also pointed to Nigeria’s foreign reserves, improved access to foreign exchange and the ability of Nigerians to use naira-denominated bank cards for international transactions as indicators of economic progress.
According to Onanuga, the country’s foreign reserves were approaching $60bn, while businesses could increasingly access foreign exchange to import machinery, equipment and raw materials.
He rejected suggestions that renewed foreign investment was largely limited to portfolio inflows, insisting that foreign direct investment was also entering the economy and generating employment opportunities.
Onanuga maintained that the administration’s economic reforms had created a foundation for sustained growth, despite criticism from opposition figures and sections of the media.
“These facts are clear to anyone not blinded by partisanship and hatred for the leader who has laid a solid foundation for the economy and is poised to take the nation to a higher level of shared prosperity,” he added.
The claims about food prices, foreign reserves and investment inflows were presented by the presidential aide as evidence of economic improvement. The figures were not independently verified in the statement.