By Ihotu Uriel
A political advocacy group, The Democratic Front (TDF), has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of hypocrisy over his criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, claiming that policies implemented during his administration contributed to widespread poverty in Nigeria.
The group said Obasanjo’s comments at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London were misleading and failed to acknowledge the economic challenges associated with his own administration.
In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad, and Secretary, Chief Wale Adedayo, TDF alleged that the former president’s foreign exchange policies weakened local production and contributed to the country’s economic difficulties.
According to the group, Obasanjo’s administration spent substantial foreign exchange reserves defending the value of the naira instead of prioritising electricity, infrastructure and other investments needed to stimulate domestic production.
TDF further alleged that the multiple foreign exchange windows operated under Obasanjo encouraged arbitrage and the diversion of subsidised dollars, gradually weakening the country’s foreign reserves and limiting economic growth.
The group also criticised the former president’s privatisation programme, arguing that the sale of government-owned enterprises contributed to job losses and increased Nigeria’s dependence on imported goods.
TDF maintained that these policies, alongside petroleum and currency subsidies, placed additional pressure on the economy and contributed to multidimensional poverty.
Citing figures from 2007, the group claimed that 86 million Nigerians were living in multidimensional poverty by the time Obasanjo left office.
The organisation consequently rejected Obasanjo’s assessment of Tinubu’s economic reforms, arguing that the current administration’s decision to allow the naira to reflect market realities was necessary to address longstanding distortions in the foreign exchange market.
TDF also defended Tinubu’s social and economic interventions, including wage and pension increases, the payment of outstanding pension arrears, student loans, consumer credit facilities, support for small businesses through SMEDAN and cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians.
The group argued that these initiatives demonstrated a stronger commitment to addressing poverty than the interventions introduced under Obasanjo’s administration, particularly the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), established in 2001.
It described Obasanjo’s criticism as politically motivated, alleging that the former president was attempting to undermine Tinubu’s administration and give an advantage to his preferred candidate ahead of the next presidential election.
TDF urged Nigerians to disregard what it described as misleading attacks on the Tinubu administration’s economic policies.
However, the group’s allegations and assessment of the impact of successive administrations’ economic policies remain its position in the ongoing debate over Nigeria’s economic reforms and rising living costs.
