By Gabriel Ameh
The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has claimed that Nigeria expended approximately $388 billion defending the naira between 2000 and 2023, arguing that the enormous interventions failed to stop the steady depreciation of the local currency.
In a policy statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, the policy think tank said successive administrations collectively spent an average of $16.8 billion annually on foreign exchange interventions before the President Bola Tinubu administration introduced reforms that unified Nigeria’s multiple exchange rate windows.
According to IMPI, the adoption of a unified foreign exchange market has effectively ended what it described as years of costly currency defence, while making the market more predictable and transparent.
The group maintained that despite the significant sums committed to stabilising the naira over more than two decades, the currency continued to weaken against the United States dollar.
It estimated that the Olusegun Obasanjo administration spent about $60 billion defending the naira over eight years, while the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration spent approximately $58 billion within three years.
The think tank further claimed that the Goodluck Jonathan administration committed about $145 billion over five years, while the Muhammadu Buhari administration spent an estimated $125 billion during its eight-year tenure.
According to IMPI, the interventions did little to reverse the currency’s long-term decline. It noted that the official exchange rate moved from about ₦22 per US dollar in May 1999 to roughly ₦460 by May 2023, while the parallel market rate weakened from ₦80/$1 to approximately ₦780/$1 within the same period.
The organisation also disclosed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened with about $7.8 billion in the foreign exchange market between 2024 and 2025, adding that the naira appreciated by 7.14 per cent over a 12-month period in 2025 following the implementation of the reforms.
IMPI credited the foreign exchange market unification and the Federal Government’s “Nigeria First” local content policy with encouraging local production, reducing dependence on imports and contributing to a trade surplus exceeding ₦6.69 trillion by the end of 2025.
Beyond the foreign exchange market, the think tank argued that Nigeria’s fiscal difficulties before 2023 stemmed largely from what it described as populist economic policies pursued by successive administrations between 1999 and 2015.
It stated that although the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan generated a combined $994.4 billion in crude oil revenue, they left office with combined domestic and external debts estimated at $65.49 billion and foreign reserves of about $29.61 billion.
According to IMPI, the country’s fiscal position remained fragile despite the huge oil earnings, leaving subsequent administrations with limited accessible reserves and mounting economic challenges.
The group concluded that the reforms introduced under the Tinubu administration marked a significant shift from previous foreign exchange and fiscal management strategies, which it argued had imposed substantial costs on the Nigerian economy.
IMPI is an independent policy think tank. Its figures and assessments represent the organisation’s analysis and have not been independently verified by this publication.
