Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that the current contradiction of dwindling reserves amid rising oil earnings exposes a dangerous pattern of economic mismanagement.

Atiku, in a statement on Sunday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the persistent drawdown in reserves signals that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is aggressively injecting liquidity to artificially defend the naira.

The Waziri Adamawa said this is not stability but a fragile illusion sustained by burning through national savings.

He said a nation cannot consume its buffers to mask policy failures while ignoring the structural weaknesses undermining its currency.

The key chieftain of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) said defending the naira without fixing productivity, exports, and investor confidence is akin to pouring water into a basket.

Atiku, therefore, issued two clear and strategic warnings by stressing that the windfall must not be squandered on recurrent expenditure or political patronage.

He said it must be deployed deliberately to provide targeted relief to Nigerians — through structured interventions that cushion the impact of fuel price increases, stabilise food supply chains, and support the most vulnerable, warning that to do otherwise is to profit from the suffering of the people while offering them nothing in return.

The former Vice President also said the government must abandon the reckless defence of the naira through reserve depletion, but instead invest this windfall in long-term economic strength.

He stressed that priority must be given to domestic refining capacity, critical infrastructure, and policies that boost non-oil exports and restore investor confidence, saying that “The naira cannot be defended by force; it must be strengthened by fundamentals.”

He said Nigerians deserved honesty, discipline, and foresight—not illusion, waste, and economic brinkmanship.

Part of the statement read, “The attention of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has been drawn to two stark and troubling realities confronting the Nigerian economy. On one hand, the nation’s external reserves have declined to $48.45 billion as of April 24—down from $48.72 billion the previous week—with a cumulative depletion of about $1.57 billion since March 11. On the other hand, Nigeria has reportedly earned a ₦5 trillion oil windfall within the same period….

“Equally alarming is that this oil windfall—driven not by policy brilliance but by external geopolitical shocks—is unfolding alongside severe fuel hardship for Nigerians. Citizens are grappling with rising pump prices, soaring transport costs, and crushing inflation, even as government revenues swell. This paradox is both unjust and unsustainable.

“Let it be said without equivocation: windfalls are tests of leadership. They reveal whether a government is committed to sustainable nation-building or addicted to short-term optics. Nigeria’s external reserves are not a political war chest, and this oil windfall is not a license for fiscal indiscipline.“

Copyright © 2026 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).