Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has attacked President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying the fast devaluation of the naira has impoverished Nigerians and made the country the world’s poverty capital.
Obasanjo made the comment yesterday in a keynote interview at the ongoing Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, United Kingdom.
The former president, Daily Independent writes, condemned the speed and effect of the currency devaluation, noting that the drastic fall in the value of the naira has drastically affected the purchasing power of Nigerians.
“We are not an isolated nation. We have contact with the rest of the globe. And overnight you depreciate the currency 300 percent. The naira fell from N500/$ to N1,500/$.
What that means is that every Nigerian is impoverished by 300 per cent. That makes Nigeria the poverty capital of the globe. That implies Nigeria has the highest number of poor people in the world”.
“You can’t tell me that is good for Nigeria. You cannot tell me that that is good for us in any way,” Obasanjo stated.
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