Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised the alarm over the continued decline in Nigeria’s external reserves despite a huge crude oil windfall due to the Middle East crisis.
Atiku spoke in a statement by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday.
Salient Times reports that Nigeria’s foreign reserves dropped to $48.37 billion as of 29th April 2026, according to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, data.
This comes despite a huge N5 trillion oil windfall within this period.
Reacting, Atiku said the development is a contradiction begging for answers from President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to him, the contradiction exposed a dangerous pattern of economic mismanagement under Tinubu’s administration.
“This is not stability—it is a fragile illusion sustained by burning through national savings. A nation cannot consume its buffers to mask policy failures while ignoring the structural weaknesses undermining its currency. Defending the naira without fixing productivity, exports, and investor confidence is akin to pouring water into a basket,” the statement said.
Atiku issued two clear warnings: “First, this windfall must not be squandered on recurrent expenditure or political patronage. It must be deployed deliberately to provide targeted relief to Nigerians—through structured interventions that cushion the impact of fuel price increases, stabilize food supply chains, and support the most vulnerable. To do otherwise is to profit from the suffering of the people while offering them nothing in return.
“Second, the government must abandon the reckless defense of the naira through reserve depletion and instead invest this windfall in long-term economic strength. Priority must be given to domestic refining capacity, critical infrastructure, and policies that boost non-oil exports and restore investor confidence. The naira cannot be defended by force; it must be strengthened by fundamentals.
“Let it be said without equivocation: windfalls are tests of leadership. They reveal whether a government is committed to sustainable nation-building or addicted to short-term optics. Nigeria’s external reserves are not a political war chest, and this oil windfall is not a license for fiscal indiscipline.
“Nigerians deserve honesty, discipline, and foresight—not illusion, waste, and economic brinkmanship.”
Salient Times reports that crude oil prices surged to around $101 and $108 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude from less than $70 per barrel in early February 2026.
