President Bola Tinubu’s assertion that Nigeria has already met its revenue target for 2025 caused a rift between the All Progressives Congress and opposition parties on Wednesday.
While the African Democratic Congress, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, and Coalition of United Political Parties accused Tinubu of celebrating statistics while citizens face extreme economic hardship, the APC maintained that the president has put Nigeria on the path to economic recovery.
Additionally, Tinubu’s claim that the Federal Government had ceased borrowing locally was met with mistrust by economists, who demanded explanations from the economic managers.
The experts pointed to the continued debt market operations by the Debt Management Office and the Central Bank of Nigeria, disputing the president’s assertion and its alignment with the actual economic realities.
For years, Nigeria has leaned heavily on crude oil, which accounts for roughly 70 per cent of government revenue and over 90 per cent of foreign exchange revenues.
Despite repeated pledges by succeeding administrations to diversify the economy, oil has continued to be the primary source of income.
President Tinubu began implementing a number of changes in 2023 after taking office with the intention of realigning the economy.
The elimination of the fuel subsidy, which has since caused extreme economic suffering, was one of his most important actions. While the removal increased government revenue, it also increased transportation expenses, exacerbated food inflation, created a foreign exchange crisis, and increased the overall cost of living for millions of Nigerians.
Under Tinubu’s leadership, states have received more federal funding, but the impact has not been felt locally.
Many Nigerians have been compelled to look for better opportunities overseas due to the ongoing rise in poverty, insecurity, and other social vices.
The burden of difficulty on regular people is still too great, even though the reforms have produced some slight improvements.
However, Tinubu claimed that the nation has achieved its 2025 revenue target in August at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, citing growth from the non-oil sector as the reason.
This was revealed by the President during a meeting with the founding members of the now-defunct Congress for Progressive Change and The Buhari Organisation, which were led by former Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, according to his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
“The economy is now stabilised. Nobody is trading pieces of paper for foreign exchange anymore. The economy is now predictable. You do not need to know the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, to obtain foreign exchange or import goods,” Tinubu said.
“The President highlighted the significant growth in non-oil revenues accruing to the Federation, federal, state, and local governments. From January to August 2025, total collections reached N20.59 trillion, a 40.5 per cent increase from N14.6 trillion recorded in 2024. This strong performance aligns with projections, placing the government firmly on course to achieve its annual non-oil revenue target,’’ the statement added.
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The President reportedly added that the Federal Government is no longer taking out loans from regional banks to support its robust budgetary performance since the year began.
TInubu, who attributed the growth to his economic reforms, pledged that infrastructure renewal, healthcare, food sovereignty, and security will remain top priorities in his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Tinubu’s announcement that Nigeria had achieved its predetermined revenue target in August was supported by the ruling APC.
The Deputy National Organising Secretary, Nze Chidi Duru, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen.
He said, “We support the President because if the target revenue for the year has been met in August, it then shows that the budget is capable of implementation. It means that what is set in the agenda of the budget will be implemented and that the government would not, as had been the case before, borrow money to be able to fulfil the budget of 2025.
“And then that eases pressure on the part of the government to now begin to have money to deliver the infrastructural development that it had targeted in the course of the year.”
Duru stressed the government’s achievement would have a spiralling effect on the economy.
“It will have a trickle-down effect on all borrowings. So the government would not be under any pressure. It also shows that the government can fund and finance the relevant projects that it needs to address the infrastructure deficit in the country, including overhead costs, which has been the major issue in the country,” he stated.
The APC leader contended that the idea that the current administration may still be interested in bonds and other IMF loans was a fiction of critics’ imaginations.
Daniel Bwala, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, urged those who disagreed with the President’s claim that the administration met its income target and refrained from borrowing locally to present opposing evidence.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday night, Bwala charged that the opposition’s criticism of the President’s statement was heedless and pointless.
He said, “The problem the opposition has is comprehension. They have sight but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear.
“If you hear what Mr President said yesterday, it is quite clear, concise and self-explanatory.
“I challenge the opposition to come with facts and numbers to counter that; and I will kindly urge the press to ask them for specifics; otherwise, they are just attacking without purpose.”
However, in light of sharp inflation, rising food costs, and currency devaluation, the opposition parties criticised the celebration of revenue data.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, called the President’s statement “ludicrous” in a conversation with one of our journalists.
He emphasised that the revenue objective has no discernible effect on the lives of the populace and called the economic policies of the APC-led Federal Government “weird.”
The ADC Publicity Secretary stated, “What is the essence of the revenue target if it has no direct impact on the lives of the people? What is the purpose of this revenue target if it does not have a direct impact on improving the lives of the people?
“Their economic policy is weird because any economy that does not put the people first cannot really claim to be doing anything. People don’t feel it. The reality that they are proclaiming is different from the reality of the life of the ordinary Nigerian. Nigerians want to see impact. They want to see improvement in their lives.”
He expressed concern that most Nigerians remain trapped below the poverty line.
Abdullahi continued, “I will give you one quick example. You know, the minimum wage, the APC-led government set it at N70,000. Even if it is fixed, it puts the majority of Nigerians below the poverty level.
“The majority of Nigerians will still live below the poverty level. So, that’s what we don’t understand about this claim about generating revenue targets when it does not have any impact.
“When the people cannot see it, they cannot see it. What is the purpose of revenue? They have borrowed so much money, leaving the country with so much debt. And we cannot see what they used the money for.
“And it’s on that basis that the President is claiming that they have met the revenue target. So, it’s absurd. You know? It’s absurd.”
The New Nigeria People’s Party also dismissed the President’s claim, arguing that governance is not just about increasing revenue.
The NNPP National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson, said, “My question is, if Tinubu meets his revenue targets, has he met the target set out to ensure he looks after the welfare of the people of this country? His government is a tax-and-spend government.
“He believes that when revenue is coming in, that means it is working. Meanwhile, you are turning the screw on the people of the country who are already suffering. Everything shouldn’t just be restricted to revenue.”
The NNPP stated that while the President may have achieved his personal target, he has yet to meet the expectations of the citizens.
“Yes, it is good that the government makes money. But has the same government cut down its costs? Are the revenues meant to buy SUVs, regulate the Presidential Villa and augment the presidential fleet? These are the questions.
“So, no matter how low or high the bar is, the President set the target himself and has marked his own exam. But what about the target we set for him as a people? He hasn’t met our own target. Inflation is still high, and the naira has lost value. It’s presently at N1,600. So, let him talk about the targets we have set him for as a people.”
Also reacting, the CUPP National Secretary, Peter Ameh, in an interview with newsmen, said President Tinubu is disconnected from the realities facing Nigerians.
“I think the president is misunderstanding the yearning and the problems of Nigerians. He’s misunderstanding it in a great deal because he himself, as a president, is disconnected from reality. He has created an alternate universe for himself where he thinks that he’s living in the presidential field and doesn’t know what Nigerians are going through.
“Tinubu doesn’t know what Nigerians are going through. So, he thinks that taxing Nigeria and collecting revenue that does not have a direct reflection on the lives of the people is an achievement.
“One of the things he has done is that when he collects his revenue, what are the priorities of investments where he puts this money? Which area is he putting the money into that reflects on the lives of the people? It’s not about meeting the revenue target; Is the life of Nigerians better? Is he investing in healthcare? Is he investing in agriculture? Is he investing in our SMEs that will generate more revenue?
The CUPP scribe alleged that both the revenue and borrowed funds are being diverted to finance the private lifestyles of those in power.
