Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said President Bola Tinubu’s government pulled Nigeria’s economy “back from the brink”, while warning that the human cost of its reforms has not been properly addressed. His remarks, made at a conference in Oxford, have quickly entered the political debate as the 2027 campaign heats up.
According to Premium Times and Naija News, Sanusi spoke on Tuesday at the Oxford Global Think Tank conference convened by Arunma Oteh, a former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare circulated his comments on Wednesday.
The Numbers Sanusi Cited
Sanusi pointed to a run of improving indicators. He said the economy grew by 4.48 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, compared with an average of about 0.9 per cent during the Buhari years. Premium Times noted that the official figure from the National Bureau of Statistics is 4.43 per cent, up from 3.89 per cent in the first quarter.
On prices, he said inflation had fallen from above 30 per cent to about 14.6 per cent, with projections of around 12.5 per cent by the end of the year. Official data reported by Reuters put September headline inflation at 14.63 per cent, down from 15.39 per cent in August.
He also said external reserves had reached about $55 billion, that GDP per capita in dollar terms had risen by 47 per cent since 2023, and that the Dangote Refinery now accounts for roughly a fifth of Nigeria’s exports. Premium Times said some of these figures had not been independently verified.
A Warning on Fragile Gains
Sanusi cautioned that a large part of the reserve build-up came from portfolio inflows, which can leave as quickly as they arrive. He linked those inflows partly to high crude prices driven by tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and to attractive returns on Nigerian assets.
He described the current stability as only a beginning. “It’s not the end, but the first step towards stability,” he said, according to Premium Times. He added that tight monetary policy had created room to consider easing.
The Human Cost
The former central bank chief was clear that macroeconomic progress has not reached everyone. He questioned what was happening to education, healthcare, maternal mortality, malnutrition and hunger among people at the bottom of the pyramid. While poverty had fallen in some areas, he said, many Nigerians had been pushed below the poverty line without any buffers, and policies should have been designed to soften those shocks.
Naija News also reported that Sanusi criticised the government’s attitude to criticism, saying it tends to treat suggestions it does not like as attacks and lacks effective spokespersons.
Political Reactions
The comments landed on the same day the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, launched his campaign in Sokoto, where his party described the turnout as a rejection of economic hardship. The Presidency, for its part, has used Sanusi’s remarks to defend its record. Background: Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy in May 2023 and floated the naira, reforms that drove inflation above 30 per cent before it began to ease.
What Comes Next
Attention now turns to the CBN’s next Monetary Policy Committee decisions, where analysts will watch whether falling inflation leads to rate cuts, and to the October inflation figures from the NBS. For households, the key test will be whether improving headline numbers translate into lower food and transport costs before the 2027 vote.
Sources: Premium Times, Naija News, Reuters (NBS data).
