Nigeria continues to grapple with a high cost of living and rising national debt under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu on Sunday said the party would not allow opposition parties to take reverse the country’s progress.

Mr Tinubu, in his acceptance speech after clinching the APC’s presidential ticket with over 10 million votes cast at the primary, touted the party’s achievements and said the opposition lacked vision.

He stated the general election must reflect that Nigeria’s democracy has matured under the APC.

“As a government, we have taken giant steps forward. Let’s not give in to complacency by allowing politicians with no clear alternative vision to take our country backwards,” he said.

According to Mr Tinubu, Nigeria’s economy has witnessed a turnaround since the APC took over the country’s affairs in 2015.

The president cited his tax reforms and other fiscal policies, which he noted had boosted revenue collection for the federation, despite reports that his economic reforms had plunged more Nigerians into poverty.

“As leaders and members of this great party, we should all be proud of what we have achieved for our country since our party took over governance in 2015 and of the outstanding economic progress we have recorded in the last three years of my administration,” he said.

Mr Tinubu further stated that under his administration, macroeconomic stability had been strengthened through improved revenue performance and financial management, adding that power generation had peaked at 50 per cent higher than what was inherited.

He said, “We moved away from wasteful fuel subsidies, unstable exchange rates, and weak infrastructure.

“Today, we are witnessing a turnaround: the naira is strengthening, foreign reserves are rising, and our economic outlook is positive despite the inflationary disruption caused by the war in Iran and the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East.”

However, he acknowledged that many Nigerians face economic hardship.

The Tinubu-led APC has repeatedly blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Nigeria’s economic woes, saying former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was then criticised for the worsening economic situation, rescued Nigerians from the PDP’s 16 years of “misrule” in 2015.

However, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO), the federal government’s debt stood at N10.95 trillion (N8.84 trillion in domestic debt and over N2 trillion in foreign debt) as of December 31, 2015, at the CBN’s exchange rate of N197 per dollar. However, the total debt stood at N159.28 trillion as of December 31, 2025.

The exchange rate currently stands at N1,369.07 to the dollar, up from N197/$1 in 2015 and about N306 between 2016 and 2019. Following the 2023 exchange rate unification, it rose sharply, averaging N1,544 in the official market in 2025.

Data from Nigeria’s apex bank showed that Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 9.55 per cent in December 2015 and 15.69 per cent in April 2026. Similarly, food inflation was 10.6 per cent in December 2015 and stood at 16.06 per cent in April 2026.

After Mr Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy and announced the floating of the naira in 2023, Nigerians have been facing rising costs of living. However, his government has repeatedly argued that the subsidy removal saved Nigeria from collapse.

The development has driven up food and transport costs, with reports indicating that poorer households spend as much as 70 per cent of their income on feeding.

Last year, the World Bank projected that “inflationary pressure, particularly food prices,” would plunge about 141 million Nigerians into poverty by 2026.

Market data showed that a 50kg bag of garri sold for about N6,000 in 2015 while current price ranges from N35,000 to N65,000; rice was N10,000 but now sells between N55,000 and N75,000; a crate of eggs was N600 and now sells between N6,000 and N6,500.

As of December 2015, retail petrol price was N87 per litre but surged to N900 per litre in 2023 after Mr Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy. The prices also rose in recent weeks amid rising global oil prices occasioned by the Iran war.

For cooking gas, the NBS report for March 2026 indicated that the retail price for 12.5kg was N19,652.83, up from N4,047.88 sold in December 2015.