LAGOS – President Bola Tinubu’s first three years in office successfully averted a major macroeconomic meltdown through bold structural reforms, yet these policy victories have failed to yield meaningful welfare improvements for ordinary Nigerians.
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) disclosed this in an economic assessment brief released Sunday. The report evaluated the administration’s performance between May 2023 and May 2026.
According to CPPE, the administration’s aggressive monetary and fiscal interventions pulled the country back from the brink of total collapse, significantly boosting foreign investor confidence and stabilizing institutional markets.
Data shows Nigeria’s external reserves climbed near the $50 billion mark, while the unification of foreign exchange windows helped stabilize the volatile Naira around N1,400 per dollar at the official window.
Furthermore, domestic refining capacity improvements, largely led by the Dangote Refinery, drastically slashed foreign exchange demand for imported fuel, helping Nigeria maintain consecutive trade surpluses into the first half of 2026.
National Bureau of Statistics data also shows real Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.89% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, up from 3.13% recorded in 2025.
However, the think tank stressed that these positive macroeconomic indicators have not translated into prosperity for citizens, as severe inflation continues to decimate household incomes and consumer purchasing power.
The CPPE revealed that the aggressive economic adjustment process bloated Nigeria’s public debt profile to a historic N159.3 trillion, heavily driven by currency depreciation and the securitization of Central Bank overdrafts.
Additionally, critical production sectors remain severely constrained, with data showing a sharp 15.30% contraction in the electricity and gas sectors during the first quarter of 2026, crippling local manufacturing.
“The administration faces the task of turning reform gains into job creation, increased incomes, reduced poverty levels, and improved quality of life for Nigerians,” stated CPPE Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf.
Yusuf added that persistent rural insecurity remains a massive structural bottleneck, crippling agricultural hubs, driving food scarcity, and keeping structural inflation painfully high for the vulnerable population.
To bridge this severe welfare gap, the CPPE urged the federal government to urgently transition its policy focus away from mere economic stabilization toward inclusive, productivity-driven shared prosperity.
The body recommended enforcing concessional tariffs on industrial inputs, tackling public sector fiscal leakages, and prioritizing the safety of farming communities to permanently bring down food costs.
