Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Affairs (Office of the Vice President), Tope Fasua, has defended the federal government’s handling of the economy and dismissed criticisms from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar following the latest inflation report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
He said Atiku’s intervention was mere politics as inflation rate does not go up for ever.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show, ‘Morning Brief’, on Tuesday, Fasua reacted to Atiku’s remarks that Nigerians were “dying of hunger despite the rebasing” of the economy.
Atiku had argued that even those still alive were “finding it really tough,” insisting that the government’s figures do not reflect the harsh realities citizens were facing.
But, Fasua countered by describing Atiku’s statement as politically motivated.
“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has only made a political statement, and that is expected in this season because he is trying to see how he can wangle his way back to the presidency,” Fasua said.
“I don’t comment so much on political things, but it is what it is. He doesn’t have to commend the present government for its achievement, but we need to stick to the black and white, to the empirical evidence on ground.”
The presidential aide explained that Nigeria’s headline inflation, which slowed to 20.12 per cent in August 2025, from 21.88 per cent in July, remains high but represents progress.
“Twenty-point-twelve per cent inflation is still large in many quarters because what it is saying is that prices are still increasing, but it’s not at the rate they were increasing before. It’s just a matter of rebasing, and the rebasing came in six years after it ought to have been done,” he said.
Fasua stressed that the rebasing exercise has given a truer reflection of the economy.
He said, “Our concern should be that our statistics and data should be much more on point and much more frequent. The rebasing gave us a true picture of where we were. So, for any emotional reason, if somebody believes that we should be around 30 per cent inflation or thereabout, then it’s their own cup of tea. The baseline should be that a rebasing was done several months back, and what we have seen since then is consistent drop in inflation.”
He further noted that inflationary pressures do not continue indefinitely, citing global examples to back his optimism.
“I tell anybody that cares to listen that inflation does not increase forever, not in any country. Look at Ghana close to us here — Ghana had inflation up to 40 per cent, 42 per cent, and today that inflation is trimming down to single digits. Nigeria’s inflation will go down to single digits as well; it’s just a matter of time.”
Comparing Nigeria to other economies, Fasua pointed out that the situation was not unique.
“Pakistan’s economy, which actually mirrors Nigeria’s economy a lot, got inflation up to 40 per cent about two years ago. Today, they are battling with deflation, which is even a bigger issue because there’s no incentive for people to produce more goods and push themselves, so everything goes down south.”
Fasua insisted that “empirical evidence” proved that the government’s economic reforms were beginning to work, and that in time, Nigeria will follow the global trend of inflation easing toward single digits.
