₦airaland Forum

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the economic direction of President Bola Tinubu, saying Nigerian workers are bearing the brunt of policies that have deepened hardship nationwide.

In a workers’ day statement on Friday on his X handle, Atiku said the 2026 commemoration was marked not by celebration but by deep reflection on the worsening condition of the Nigerian worker.

“This year’s Workers’ Day is not a moment of joy for millions of Nigerians.

“It is a painful reminder of broken promises and a growing burden placed on the shoulders of those who keep this country running,” he said.

Atiku aimed at the administration’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, which he described as necessary but poorly executed.

“Let me be clear: the removal of fuel subsidy was inevitable and long overdue.

“However, its implementation by this administration was hasty, unstructured, and devoid of the necessary safeguards to protect ordinary Nigerians,” he said.

According to him, the immediate aftermath of the policy saw a sharp rise in the cost of living, with transportation, food prices, and basic goods becoming increasingly unaffordable for workers.

“What we have witnessed is a dramatic surge in the cost of living without any commensurate increase in wages or meaningful support systems.

“The Nigerian worker has been left to absorb shocks that should have been mitigated by responsible governance,” he added.

The former presidential candidate also questioned the management of funds saved from the subsidy removal, arguing that many Nigerians have yet to see tangible benefits.

“Trillions of naira have reportedly been saved, yet the average Nigerian cannot point to a single aspect of their lives that has improved as a result.

“This raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and priorities,” he said.

He further called on the Federal Government to adopt policies that directly ease the burden on workers, including wage adjustments, targeted social interventions, and investments in critical sectors such as healthcare and education.

“Economic reforms must be people-centred. Growth that does not translate into improved living conditions for workers is neither inclusive nor sustainable,” Atiku added.

Reaffirming his solidarity with Nigerian workers, Atiku urged the government to listen to their concerns and act decisively.

“On this Workers’ Day, I stand in solidarity with every Nigerian worker.

“Their resilience is remarkable, but resilience should not be mistaken for endurance of endless hardship. The time to act is now,” he added.

Workers’ Day, celebrated annually on May 1, honours the contributions of workers and the labour movement.

In Nigeria, it has increasingly become a platform to highlight economic challenges and call for improved welfare and working conditions.

Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, on Monday made an assessment of Nigeria’s power sector, blaming over a decade of stalled investment on policy inconsistency, weak infrastructure development, and the abrupt discontinuation of a financing framework that had begun attracting global capital into electricity generation projects.

Nnaji spoke in Lagos at the 2026 conference of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics, where he addressed participants on the future of Nigeria’s energy mix, the role of natural gas in powering the economy, the financing bottlenecks facing major projects, and the long-standing delays around strategic assets such as the Mambilla hydropower project.

Nnaji regretted that Nigeria has gone 11 years without financing any new major power plant, a situation he traced directly to the dismantling of a government-backed financing support mechanism introduced during his tenure as minister.

Nnaji explained that Nigeria had already begun attracting large-scale investment into power generation through a government-backed risk guarantee system before it was abruptly discontinued.

He said the mechanism, a partial risk guarantee instrument, was deliberately designed to de-risk investments and unlock financing from global lenders.

“Take, for example, what happened with partial risk guarantee instruments. A number of companies developed their power plants to the level where they could just finance them. And the world was galloping to us to finance power plants. Because we were getting a service guarantee,” he said.

Nnaji explained that the instrument was a risk assurance framework jointly put together by the power and finance ministries to make Nigerian power projects bankable for lenders and investors.

He said, “The former minister of finance at that time, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and I set up what we called a ‘partial risk guarantee instrument’ to finance power. And it was working. In fact, the Azura Edo power plant got financed using that instrument.”

The former minister said the framework had begun to yield results, with projects already securing funding under the arrangement. However, he lamented that the progress was abruptly halted when the administration changed, causing the entire financing momentum to collapse.

“But as soon as the government changed, it got wiped away. And till today, we have not financed any new major power plant in Nigeria. That’s about 11 years ago,” he said.

Nnaji stressed that the discontinuation of the instrument sent a negative signal to investors and lenders, effectively freezing large-scale financing in the sector.

He stated that this remains one of the clearest examples of how policy inconsistency has undermined Nigeria’s electricity ambitions, warning that “what government policy and will can do is tremendous in moving things forward”.

Expanding beyond the financing challenge, Nnaji argued that Nigeria must take a realistic and pragmatic view of energy transition, especially in light of recent global events.

He referenced the Russia-Ukraine war as a turning point in the global energy debate, saying the conflict exposed the limits of an overly ideological transition away from fossil fuels.


He explained that as soon as the Ukraine war started, Europe, which had been harassing the entire world about renewable energy, was the first to abandon the paradigm.

“And Germany, for example, went back to coal, which is the biggest pollutant in the world,” he said.

He noted that the lesson for Nigeria is to make strategic use of its comparative advantage, particularly its huge natural gas reserves.

Nnaji maintained that natural gas remains the most practical energy source for Nigeria’s economic development and predicted that it would dominate power generation for years.

"We happen to be lucky that we have natural gas as the main ingredient for power production, for example. And then, of course, we have the hydros.

“I predict that for the next 20 years, we will be relying on different forms of natural gas to power our economy. And that is a good thing,” he said.

Despite the abundance of gas, however, the don said Nigeria has failed to build the infrastructure required to fully harness it.

“We have over 210 trillion cubic feet of gas, but we are not harvesting this right now. We are not building the infrastructure enough. So, for the infrastructure or financing that will make this happen, government policy needs to be there,” he said.

The former minister also drew attention to gas supply shortages affecting existing assets, including NLNG: “We have the NLNG. And it is operating at about 60 per cent of its capacity because of non-availability of the gas itself.”

He said this underscores the urgent need for investments in gas production, processing, and transportation networks.

On hydropower, Nnaji highlighted the Mambilla project as a symbol of Nigeria’s inability to execute major strategic projects despite their economic importance.

"The Mambilla power plant has been on the drawing board for more than 40 years. Is it doable? Of course it’s doable,” he noted, stressing that the problem is not technical feasibility but the lack of political will and consistent implementation.

He further stressed the importance of regulatory reforms, particularly around tariffs, metering, and energy theft.

Speaking, the President of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics, Hassan Mahmud, described Africa’s energy challenge as one of execution rather than resource scarcity.

Mahmud said over 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity, while nearly one billion rely on biomass for cooking despite the continent’s vast energy resources.

He noted that Nigeria’s installed generation capacity remains grossly underutilised.

“Nigeria has a strong power capacity of 13,000 MW or so, yet generation typically averages just 4,000 to 5,000 MW… largely due to gas supply, infrastructure, and market constraints,” he said.

Mahmud explained that the country’s challenge lies in bridging the gap between resource potential and actual performance.

He added that Africa requires over $100bn in annual energy investment to achieve universal access by 2030, but current inflows remain far below that threshold.

According to Mahmud, the issue is not resource scarcity but how to convert resources to reliable, affordable, sustainable energy at scale.

The crisis facing Nigeria’s domestic aviation sector has worsened as airlines grapple with an unprecedented surge in the cost of aviation fuel also known as Jet A1.

Ibom Air, one of the domestic airlines, has warned that the situation is fast becoming unsustainable.

The airline revealed that the cost of fueling a single flight has skyrocketed from an average of N2.1 million in January to approximately N7.6 million as of April 26, representing a staggering increase of over 350 percent within just seven weeks.

According to the airline, this sharp rise has occurred despite operating one of the most fuel-efficient fleets in the domestic market, underscoring the severity of the crisis across the industry.

The airline stated this in a statement by its Group Manager, Marketing and Communication, Aniekan Essienette.

This is coming amidst widespread disruption of domestic flight schedule over Jet A1 scarcity and the high cost of the product which went up following the US-Israel war on Iran.

Daily Trust reports that apart from Ibom Air, most of the domestic carriers have had to contend with flight disruption over aviation fuel shortage with passengers facing delays and in some cases cancellations.

But the matter is getting worst at the moment and feelers show that most of the airlines may eventually shut down operations this week as earlier planned.

The statement by Ibom Air read, “The fuel price situation is an unprecedented crisis for Nigeria’s domestic airlines. At Ibom Air, the cost of fueling our aircraft has more than tripled between January and today. From an average of N2.1m per flight in January, as at today, the 26th of April, we are paying approximately N7.6m to fuel every flight. This is a more than 350% increase since the beginning of March, a space of just 7 weeks! And our aircraft are some of the most fuel efficient in the domestic market.

“At this point, domestic airlines are baffled at why the price of aviation fuel in Nigeria has ballooned to this level, way above the rest of the world, while the fuel marketers obtain 95% or more of their aviation fuel from Dangote Refinery.

“The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a combination of competitive pressures and patriotism have prevented a commensurate increase in our fares, meaning that we and our fellow domestic airlines have had to absorb the immense operating losses resulting from this situation.

“We chose to do this believing that the crisis would pass in a week or two, but it has persisted now for nearly two months, continuously increasing, with no reprieve in sight as at today. While we continue to do everything we can to maintain normal operations, it is clear to us that the current conditions are unsustainable.

“We note that, worldwide, where fuel price increases are nowhere near what we are facing in Nigeria, airlines are reducing flights to manage the situation. We, too, will have to take whatever ameliorating actions we can in the days ahead, including reducing our capacity if necessary, to be able to continue to provide services to our customers and our country. We also note that, if this situation persists much longer, airlines will not be able to continue operating just to pay for fuel and nothing else.

“We call on the fuel marketers to seriously reconsider the pricing of aviation fuel to make the airline business model continue to work in Nigeria.”

The Nigeria Revenue Service has described as false and misleading a viral infographic claiming that a new vehicle tax has been imposed by the Federal Government, effective July 1.

The NRS made this known in a statement by Mr Dare Adekambi, Special Adviser to the NRS Chairman, Dr Zach Adedeji, and spokesperson for the service.

According to Adekambi, the infographic directs owners of private, commercial, and corporate vehicles to pay an unspecified vehicle tax rate online or at approved banks and agencies.

He said the material, which bore no identifiable author, further asked members of the public to visit http://www.firs.gov.ng for more information, whereas the correct official website of the NRS is http://www.nrs.gov.ng.

Adekambi said the Federal Government had not introduced any fresh tax on vehicles as claimed in the material.

He advised members of the public to trust and rely only on information disseminated through verified official channels of government or any of its agencies, and not on anonymous graphics circulating online.

“The NRS wishes to state categorically that the information did not emanate from the service or any government agency.

“Citizens are, therefore, advised to disregard the fabricated messages designed to mislead the public and instead rely on official government channels for information on government policies,” he said.

He said the verdict on the infographic is that it is false, and advised Nigerians to follow the official handles of the NRS on all social media platforms and its website for accurate information about tax and its activities. (NAN)

Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has revealed that the opposition alliance can shake President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but not everyone in the alliance will stay till the end.

In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Primate Ayodele made it known that the decision to field one candidate among the opposition is a good move and can make the ruling party feel the heat; however, there will be betrayal.

The prophet noted that it is not everyone in the alliance who is willing to allow the project to succeed by staying united till the end.

He urged the alliance to work on unity among every party in the movement if they want to shake the president.

He also warned them to be careful of plans to frustrate those who have strength by the ruling party.

“If they are united till the end, they can shake Tinubu. The president will feel the heat if they are totally united; that’s the only thing that can give the project success.

“APC will find it tough if they are united, but not everyone there is ready for success.

“However, the government will frustrate those who have strength among them to weaken them,” he said.

“The Alliance between opposition parties is good, it will scale through for a while, but will be destroyed later because not all of them are sincere.

“The alliance is for a period, and they must be careful of court cases around them because it will be intense now,” he claimed.

VIDEO: Atiku arrives Ibadan for opposition summit pic.twitter.com/ilPjWQDIQS

— TheCable (@thecableng) April 25, 2026

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has resigned his position in the Federal Government to pursue his governorship ambition in Oyo State.

In a resignation letter dated April 22, 2026, and addressed to President Bola Tinubu, Adelabu said the decision would take effect from April 30, 2026, to allow for a smooth transition.

The letter, routed through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, stated that he was stepping down with “a deep sense of honour and profound gratitude.”

He wrote, “I write with a deep sense of honour and profound gratitude to formally tender my resignation as the Honourable Minister of Power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This resignation is to take effect on 30th April 2026, in order to allow sufficient time for a smooth and orderly handover of responsibilities.”

Adelabu thanked the President for the opportunity to serve, describing his appointment as a privilege.

He said, “Your Excellency, I remain sincerely grateful for the privilege and confidence you reposed in me by appointing me to serve our great nation in this capacity.

“It has been a rare honour to contribute to national development under your leadership and to play a role in advancing reforms in the power sector—one of the most critical foundations of Nigeria’s industrial growth and economic transformation.”

The former minister said his resignation was to enable him focus fully on his governorship ambition in Oyo State, citing provisions of the amended electoral law.

He added, “My decision to step down is informed by my intention to focus fully on my gubernatorial ambition in Oyo State. This aspiration, which dates back to 2016 during my service as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, ultimately led to my voluntary resignation from the Central Bank in 2018 in order to pursue the same goal.”

“In line with the provisions of the Amended Electoral Act 2026, which preclude political office holders from contesting elections, I consider it both appropriate and necessary to resign at this time.”

Adelabu’s exit marks a major political development ahead of the next electoral cycle, particularly in Oyo State, where he is expected to contest the governorship election.

A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said President Bola Tinubu is rattled by the growing influence of the African Democratic Congress.

Babachir insisted that the president’s recent remarks reflect deep concern ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Babachir, who also serves as ADC National Deputy Chairman, stated this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Inside Sources on Sunday.

He stated the coalition was committed to rescuing Nigeria from what he described as the hardship the All Progressives Congress had placed on Nigerians.

He said, “Now, ADC means we need to rescue Nigeria because Nigeria is in dire stress. Nigeria is facing insecurity of unimaginable proportions. I know a government that is careless about it. Nigerians are facing an economic crisis of unimaginable proportions. It is difficult now to feed and to pay school fees. It is difficult to go to work, to the extent that civil servants or workers generally do shifts because you cannot fuel your car from Nyanya to Abuja and back and still have something left in your salary to pay rent, to eat, to pay medical bills, to pay school fees for your children, talk more of clothing yourselves.

“So, the position we find ourselves in Nigeria is that we are all in danger. In danger. In danger of losing our lives to all manner of insecurity, to all sorts of people. Others call them bandits. Others call them Boko Haram. Others call them insurgents. Whatever you call them, there is one knocking behind your door to harm you. Kidnappers are there, apart from the normal armed robbery that we are used to. So Nigeria, every Nigerian is in danger of losing his life, of starving to death, of being unable to live the life that we are expected to live under a good Nigerian government.”

Babachir said the ADC believed it was critical to work to get Nigerians out of the condition he said the current government had created.

“We are under hostage. We are held hostage by people who are more interested in power and wealth than in the safety, security, and well-being of our people. So we need to rescue all of us. I believe even President Tinubu himself needs to be rescued from himself,” he said.

He was particularly pointed in his assessment of Tinubu’s recent public remarks, saying, “Bola, in the condition he finds himself right now, needs to be rescued from himself. A president who brags that because he is now in power, things will be easier for him in the general election is somebody who has lost all sense of decorum, has lost all sense of what politics is all about. It is about electing a leader and judging him if he fails to perform based on expectations. So if Bola thinks that he is a democrat, and I think he likes to see himself as one, he should not have said what he said.”

Babachir also claimed that APC governors were merely misleading the president, saying: “He is in panic because even the 31 governors that you say are with him are not with him sincerely, and he knows it.”

He further alleged that Tinubu was personally behind efforts to suppress the opposition, saying: “Hitherto, I have always told people that I do not think Bola is directly aware of what his subordinates are doing to muzzle the opposition. So, being a democrat from his background, I always thought it was lieutenants who wanted to please the boss that had gone overboard. But listening to that interview, I realized that he is the architect of it all.”

The African Democratic Congress has in recent months emerged as a major opposition platform ahead of the 2027 general elections, following the defection of several prominent politicians from the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Anambra Governor Peter Obi, and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi were among the high-profile figures who attended the ADC’s national convention on April 14, signalling the party’s growing ambitions as a third-force movement.

Tinubu, responding to criticism from the ADC leaders at the convention, told a meeting of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors on April 16 that he would not be intimidated.

He also described the ADC gathering as a “street convention” and accused the coalition of attempting to hijack the party.

The Presidency has said that Nigeria is not a poor country, urging a shift in national discourse from poverty narratives to addressing inequality and structural economic challenges.

The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr. Tope Fasua, who spoke on Channels Television on Friday, said: “Nigeria is not a poor country, but we have inequality challenges. We must focus on bridging that gap.”

Fasua stressed that while poverty exists, the focus should be on solutions, saying: “The real question is how to solve poverty,” adding that constant emphasis on poverty “will not allow us to focus on what matters.”

He pointed to evidence of wealth within the system, noting that “about N4.6 trillion was raised by banks in this country recently for recapitalisation,” with “about 80 percent of it from this country.”

He added: “MTN has consistently generated about 40 percent of its profits from Nigeria. This shows there is money in the system.”

Highlighting structural issues, Fasua said: “We may have a scenario where many people are making money, many people are poor, so we need to bridge the gap,” adding that “we also have a problem with informality.”

According to him, “about 70 percent of this economy is informal,” stressing that ongoing tax reforms are meant “so that the money that keeps escaping… will be reckoned with and we can get the revenue to develop the country.”

He urged Nigerians to support reforms, saying: “Let people pay their taxes… so that we can even out the income inequality in this country.”

Fasua also defended the Federal Government’s 2026 budget, describing it as ambitious.

“We should commend Mr. President for thinking big for the people of this country,” he said.

On the N68.32 trillion budget, he explained that “for the first time we’re having about 50 percent capital budget,” adding: “This is a government that is going somewhere.”

Addressing concerns about overlaps, he said: “Budget overlaps are not new… once the law has been made, it has to be implemented.”

On borrowing, he dismissed fears, stating: “Nigeria is not over-borrowed… our debt is sustainably managed.”

Fasua expressed optimism, saying: “This country has potential for so long, but this is the time,” adding that reforms “will yield results.”

“It is not going to be a walk in the park… but it is doable,” he said.

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has said President Bola Tinubu should be concerned about a possible defeat in the 2027 general elections, citing widespread hardship and insecurity in the country.

In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said Tinubu would be contesting against “millions of Nigerians” affected by what it described as unprecedented economic and security challenges under his administration.

DAILY POST reports that the ADC was reacting to recent remarks by Tinubu in which he said he was not afraid of the opposition and reportedly mocked them over their convention.

The party described the President’s comments as unpresidential, accusing him of focusing on politics instead of addressing pressing national issues such as rising poverty and insecurity.

The ADC said the President’s remarks reflected “anxiety” and a disconnect from the realities facing citizens, including high cost of living, food inflation, and declining purchasing power.

“What Nigerians saw was not the confidence of a leader in control. It was the anxiety of a President increasingly disconnected from the reality of hardship, insecurity, and frustration facing millions of citizens.

“At a time when families are battling a historic cost of living crisis, food inflation, rising debt burdens, and collapsing purchasing power, the President chose to mock the opposition instead of addressing the suffering of Nigerians. However, even as he spoke, reports of children being abducted from examination centres were circulating. This is the reality of today’s Nigeria, insecurity spreading deeper into everyday life while government appears distracted,” the ADC said.

The opposition party also faulted the President’s characterisation of its convention, insisting it did not hold its gathering on the street. It suggested the President may have been misinformed.
The party additionally accused Tinubu of attempting to court supporters of late former President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the next election, describing the move as hypocritical.

President Bola Tinubu has signed the N68.32 trillion 2026 appropriation bill into law.

Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, announced in a statement on Friday.

On March 31, the national assembly passed the budget after Tinubu’s upward review request.

In December 2025, Tinubu presented N58.47 trillion as the 2026 appropriation bill to the national assembly.

However, on March 31, the president asked the national assembly to increase the budget estimates by N9.81 trillion, taking the total budget to N68.32 trillion.

Onanuga said the 2026 budget earmarks N4.79 trillion for statutory transfers and N15.8 trillion for debt service.

According to the spokesperson, the budget also allocates N15.4 trillion to recurrent expenditure and N32.2 trillion to the development fund for capital expenditure.


With capital expenditure accounting for about 50 per cent, the 2026 budget underscores the administration’s continued commitment to economic stability, national security, infrastructure development, and inclusive growth,” he said.


“The allocations reflect a strategic balance between statutory obligations, debt servicing, recurrent expenditure, and capital investments critical to driving productivity and improving the quality of life for Nigerians.”

Onanuga said Tinubu also extended the implementation period for the 2025 budget from March 31 to June 30.

“Additionally, the President has assented to the Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which extends the implementation period of the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act from March 31, 2026, to June 30, 2026,” he said.

“The extension will ensure the full and effective utilisation of appropriated funds, particularly for critical infrastructure and development projects that are at advanced stages of implementation across the country.

“It will enable Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to consolidate ongoing works, enhance project completion rates, and maximise value for public expenditure.”

Onanuga added that the 2026 appropriation act went into force on April 1, and the federal government will commence full implementation in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He added that Tinubu directed ministers, departments and agencies (MDAs) to ensure disciplined, transparent, and efficient utilisation of allocated resources, with a strong emphasis on value for money and timely project delivery.

“President Tinubu directed MDAs to ensure disciplined, transparent, and efficient utilisation of allocated resources, with a strong emphasis on value for money and timely project delivery,” the spokesperson said.

Onanuga said Tinubu also reaffirmed the importance of sustained collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government in advancing national development objectives.

The president also assured Nigerians of his administration’s resolve to deepen fiscal reforms, enhance revenue generation, and prioritise investments that will stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and strengthen social protection mechanisms.