Tinubu presiding over agric export collapse -Atiku
• Cites N796.4bn trade-balance reversal, pledges domestic production subsidy
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a collapse in agricultural export earnings, citing a N796.4 billion reversal in the country’s agricultural trade balance within one year.
The former vice president said farmers remained exposed to insecurity while manufacturers faced “punishing” production costs, undermining the administration’s promise to build a productive economy.
In a statement issued by the Director of Strategic Communication, ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Nigeria’s agricultural trade moved from a N740.27 billion surplus in the first half of 2025 to a N56.13 billion deficit in the corresponding period of 2026.
Agricultural exports fell by 33.3 per cent, he said, outpacing the decline in imports.
“The excuse that Nigerians simply imported too much will not stand. Tinubu’s government must answer for the collapse in what Nigeria sold to the world. The country is losing export earnings, and the President owes farmers, workers and businesses more than another speech about prosperity,” he said.
Atiku questioned what the administration had done to make farms safer, reduce the cost of moving produce or improve the profitability of exporting finished Nigerian products.
He argued that farmers could not cultivate promises, just as manufacturers could not power factories with speeches.
“We grow the crop. Someone else does more of the processing, builds a business around it and earns the larger return. Then Tinubu speaks of jobs while Nigerian factories struggle to compete. He has made production expensive and called the resulting hardship reform.
“A trade deficit alone does not explain every problem on our farms. But after more than three years in office, the President owns the decisions that have left farmers exposed and producers burdened. He cannot claim credit for every favourable statistic and disown a N796.40 billion reversal when the figures turn against him.”
The ADC candidate said his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria would retain more jobs, production and value within the country.
He explained that qualifying products from Nigerian refineries, including modular refineries, would receive support, while imported products would be excluded.
The subsidy, he said, would be capped, budgeted and independently audited, with measures to track whether savings reached consumers and businesses.
Atiku also criticised the administration’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative, arguing that vehicle conversion costs were beyond the reach of many poor Nigerians.
He alleged that conversion kits were difficult to access and buses presented as palliatives remained unavailable to many intended beneficiaries.
“Local refining is about more than the price at the petrol pump. Aviation fuel affects fares. LPG affects the cost of cooking. Petroleum products and feedstocks affect industries and the people they employ,” he said.
“Nigerians need practical relief they can actually access—not schemes whose costs and shortages put the promised benefits out of reach. The value of our resources must reach Nigerians beyond the refinery gate.”
He pledged to introduce a transparent production subsidy from his first day in office and extend support to farmers and processors.
“Grow it here. Process it here. Refine it here. Create the jobs here. Make life affordable here,” he said.
“Tinubu’s record is becoming painfully clear: Nigeria supplies raw crops and crude oil while Nigerians pay dearly for finished goods. A government that cannot turn our resources into affordable products and decent jobs has failed the people it was elected to serve.”
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