President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has admitted that the Federal Government’s economic reforms contributed to an increase in the number of Nigerians living in poverty, while maintaining that the measures have recorded significant gains since their implementation.
Bwala made the disclosure on Channels Television’s Politics on Wednesday while defending the administration’s economic policies introduced after Tinubu assumed office in 2023.
The reforms, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market, resulted in higher living costs as transportation, logistics and production expenses surged for households and businesses.
While the Federal Government has maintained that the policies were necessary to correct structural weaknesses in the economy and ease pressure on government finances, their immediate effects have continued to fuel economic hardship among Nigerians.
Bwala acknowledged the difficulties caused by the reforms but argued that the hardship should be viewed alongside the progress recorded by the administration.
“Please let it be clear even to the opposition, the reason why you have this number of poor people and some of these doomsday analytics that people are giving is because we undertook a reform.
“There is no part of the world where you start a reform like that there will not be discomfort. More people went down to poverty, acknowledged, but since when the reform started to today, we have made marked progress which is what we have spent the last three years talking to Nigerians about.
“So, you cannot discount that even though there are quite a number of our population that are poor which we admit, but we have made progress so far,” Bwala said
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The Federal Government has pointed to several economic indicators as evidence of improvement. In his October 1 Independence Day address, Tinubu said inflation had declined from its peak, foreign reserves had increased and the foreign exchange market had become more stable.
The President also described the country as having moved towards a new phase in which the focus would shift from implementing reforms to achieving prosperity.
Meanwhile, Bwala expressed confidence that Tinubu would secure a stronger victory in the 2027 presidential election than he did in 2023.
Tinubu defeated Atiku Abubakar by 1.81 million votes and Peter Obi by 2.69 million votes in the 2023 presidential election.
According to Bwala, the President’s margin of victory in 2027 would be significantly wider.
“Let me tell you and let me say it categorically and I will be happy to come back. The margin of gap that President Bola Tinubu will give each and everyone of these candidates will be so much that you won’t believe it,” he said.
He linked his confidence partly to the increasing support Tinubu has received from governors elected on opposition platforms.
Several governors have defected from opposition parties to the All Progressives Congress since the 2023 election, and Bwala believes the number of governors backing Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election will surpass those who supported him during the last presidential contest.