Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of worsening the plight of farmers and manufacturers while agricultural export earnings continue to decline.
Mr Atiku said the government’s policies had left farmers exposed to insecurity and manufacturers grappling with high production costs, while Nigeria continues to export agricultural commodities without sufficiently developing domestic processing capacity.
He made the allegations in a statement issued on Wednesday by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council.
Mr Atiku said Nigeria’s agricultural trade swung from a N740.27 billion surplus in the first half of 2025 to a N56.13 billion deficit in the corresponding period of 2026.
He described the N796.40 billion reversal as evidence of what he called the failure of the Tinubu administration’s economic policies.
According to him, agricultural exports fell by 33.3 per cent during the period, while imports also declined.
“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.
“What has his administration done to make it safer to farm, cheaper to move produce, easier to keep a processing plant running or more profitable to sell a finished Nigerian product?
“Farmers cannot cultivate promises. Manufacturers cannot power factories with speeches. Workers cannot feed their families on assurances that prosperity is coming,” he said.
Atiku said Nigeria’s major agricultural exports still include cashew nuts in shell and cocoa beans, arguing that the country could retain more value by expanding domestic processing.
“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,” he said.
The former vice president said the agricultural trade deficit did not, by itself, explain all the challenges facing farmers.
However, he said the Tinubu administration should take responsibility for policies implemented since it assumed office in 2023.
“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,” Atiku said.
He also defended his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria, saying the policy was aimed at retaining more production, jobs and value within the country.
Mr Atiku said the proposed support would cover qualifying products refined locally, including products from modular refineries, while imported petroleum products would be excluded.
He said the subsidy would be capped, budgeted and independently audited, with mechanisms to determine whether the savings were passed on to consumers and businesses.
Mr Atiku also criticised the Federal Government’s compressed natural gas (CNG) initiative, describing it as an ineffective relief measure.
According to him, the cost of converting vehicles remains beyond the reach of many Nigerians, while conversion kits are difficult to access and the buses provided as palliatives are unavailable to many people who need them.
“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.
“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 said.
Mr Atiku said a government he leads would introduce what he described as a transparent production subsidy for locally refined petroleum products from its first day in office.
He also promised to support farmers and processors, saying the policy would focus on expanding domestic production and processing.
“Grow it here. Process it here. Refine it here. Create the jobs here. Make life affordable here,” he said.
Mr Atiku alleged that the Tinubu administration had failed to turn Nigeria’s agricultural and petroleum resources into affordable products and decent jobs.
“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,” he said.
