TMSG- ATIKU GOOFED ON PRESIDENT TINUBU’S GROWTH FOCUSED BORROWINGS, RECENT SPIKE IN FOOD INFLATION
By Olayiwola Ibrahim // The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has said there is no justification for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to accuse the President Bola Tinubu administration of excessive borrowing, importation and taxation.
The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, had, in a recent statement, said Nigeria could not borrow, import and tax its way to prosperity,” suggesting that the federal government had been borrowing, importing and even over-taxing Nigerians.
But in a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG argued that available credible data do not back the former Vice President’s egregious claims.
It said that We have seen the latest effort by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to cast aspersions on the Bola Tinubu administration by declaring that Nigeria could not ‘borrow, import and tax its way to prosperity, but we are clear- minded enough to assert that this is untenable and cannot be the truth.
Going through the Atiku statement, it was obvious that he anchored his unguarded onslaught against the President on the latest data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on inflation, which incidentally showed a month-on-month decline even though there is a slight spike in food inflation.
By ignoring that the 17.52 per cent food inflation figure for June 2026 was a massive improvement on the 25.41 percent in June 2025, the former Vice President elevated mischief to an art by blaming the rise in food prices on increased food imports.
But we make bold to say that the administration introduced waivers on certain food imports which brought down the national food inflation rate year-on-year.
And while former Vice President Atiku focused on high food inflation numbers recorded in Kogi, he deliberately pretended not to notice the relatively low rates of 19.15 per cent, 23.81 per cent and 24.60 per cent respectively recorded in Katsina, Rivers and Imo states.
It is, however, common knowledge that the Middle East conflict, which led to an increase in fuel and transportation costs, led to a general hike in food prices contrary to the mischievous claim that the policies of the Tinubu administration were to blame.
This is because the inflation rate had been on a constant decline since the last quarter of 2025 up until March 2026 when the crisis broke out in the Middle East. This is the most accurate and tenable state of things. ”
The group dismissed the former Vice President’s position on excessive taxation, describing it as flawed, egregious and blatantly misleading.
For us, the most laughable was the suggestion on excessive taxation which clearly falls flat in the face of current realities of the Tinubu tax reforms which have granted tax reliefs to small businesses and low-earning persons.
To be clear, the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA) has unambiguously introduced significant reliefs for small businesses who now enjoy zero per cent Companies Income Tax (CIT), zero per cent Capital Gains Tax (CGT), and exemption from the 4% Development Levy.
Furthermore, there are no mandatory withholding tax deductions on small business transactions. As for individuals, any Nigerian earning up to ₦1.2m annually is completely exempt from income tax.
So we wonder which tax law the former Vice President was referring to when he said ‘Nigeria cannot tax itself to prosperity’?.
We dare say that Nigerians have more tax reliefs now than at any time in recent history, even when Atiku was supposedly the head of the country’s economic team as Vice President, it added.
TMSG urged Nigerians to see former Vice President Atiku’s position on issues as purely driven by petty politics, not national interest.
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