Economy
Experts Task Incoming Administration on Inflation, Debt
By Adedapo Adesanya
On Monday, May 29, Nigeria will get a new president as President Muhammadu Buhari will vacate office after eight years for his successor, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a transition that comes with a lot of burdens.
Mr Tinubu, a member of Mr Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC), was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the February 25 election, defeating Mr Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party’s Mr Peter Obi.
However, the country faces massive headwinds of problems, including surging inflation and piling debt, which analysts who spoke to Business Post said are the top priority for Mr Tinubu’s administration.
In April, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 22.22 per cent as it increased by 0.18 per cent compared to the March 2023 headline inflation rate of 22.04 per cent. The NBS said on a year-on-year basis; the headline inflation rate was 5.40 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2022, which was 16.82 per cent.
Plans by the country to control inflation and strengthen the Naira have seen interest rates raised for an unprecedented seventh consecutive time.
However, there are yet no signals that inflation will slow anytime soon, meaning the country will likely hike the rate further after research showed the increase in borrowing costs is yielding results.
The monetary policy committee on Wednesday lifted the benchmark rate by half a percentage point to 18.50 per cent, Governor Godwin Emefiele said in Abuja.
With the end in sight, Mr Buhari pleaded with lawmakers to hurriedly approve an $800 million loan from the World Bank, a move that could see Nigeria’s public debt pass $150 billion this year from over $60 billion when he took over.
His borrowing spree has drawn warnings from the World Bank that Africa’s largest economy was using 96 per cent of its revenue to service debts.
Earlier this month, the Budget Office of the Federation told the incoming legislature, which approves the country’s borrowing needs, that Nigeria’s debt-to-revenue ratio was worsening and could spell doom if the country exceeds its limit.
“We now have very limited borrowing space, not because our debt to GDP is high but because our revenue is too small to sustain the size of our debt. That explains our high debt service ratio. Once a country’s debt service ratio exceeds 30 per cent, that country is in trouble, and we are pushing towards 100 per cent, and that tells you how much trouble we are in,” the Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr Ben Akabueze, said.
Speaking to Business Post, Mr Akin Fatunke, a chartered accountant and public affairs analyst, said the country needed the incoming administration to take the bull by the horn.
“Economic viability should be hinged on efficient loan and self-sufficiency management geared towards investments at the commanding heights. West Africa has too many nation-states, many of which are simply not economically viable.
“I look at how Giuseppe Garibaldi masterminded the unification of Italy and how Otto Von Bismarck masterminded the unification of Germany, I look forward to a Nigerian hero masterminding the unification of West Africa,” he said in a correspondence to Business Post.
He tasked the incoming president to “Build a global economic giant that will rival the likes of China and India with their populations that are in excess of one billion people.”
On his part, Mr Nelson Ekujumi, a business and public affairs analyst, was optimistic about the capabilities of the incoming administration, noting that, “The incoming administration as headed by President-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (GCFR) and Vice President-elect Senator Kashim Shettima (GCON) are astute accountant and economist technocrats respectively who are well versed in financial matters and I have a strong optimism that Nigeria’s debt will be tackled.”
He expects them to “plug economic loopholes to generate more sources of revenue that will limit our borrowing and put in place measures to ensure greater productivity and make life affordable and accessible such that the cost of living will be on a manageable scale for a vast majority of Nigerians.
“The factors engendering high cost of living is expected to be tackled frontally to arrest and reduce inflation.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange increased by 0.59 per cent in Trading Week 16 of 2026, with the market capitalisation adding N13.58 billion to settle at N2.329 trillion compared with the previous week’s N2.315 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) up by 22.70 points to 3,893.15 points from 3,870.45 points in week 15.
Over the course of five trading sessions of the week, the total volume of stocks transacted by market participants went down by 50.2 per cent to 3.87 million units from 7.77 million units, but the value increased by 20.9 per cent to N150.9 million from N124.9 million. These trades were carried out in 162 deals across 20 stocks.
The most traded stock by value for the week was Okitipupa Plc with N46.7 million, followed by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with N36.3 million. Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc recorded N31.9 million, MRS Oil Plc posted N14.6 million, and 11 Plc achieved N12.6 million.
The most active stock by volume was Geo-Fluids Plc with 1.5 million units, and trailed by UBN Property Plc with 0.828 million units. CSCS Plc traded 0.609 million units, Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc quoted 0.325 million units, and Okitipupa Plc sold 0.26 million units.
Last week, 11 securities recorded movements, with eight on the green side and three on the red side.
MRS Oil Plc gained N33.75 to close at N197.75 per unit versus N164.00 per unit, Nipco Plc which rose by N31 to N344.00 per share versus N313.00 per share, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N20 to N280.00 per unit from N260.00 per unit, Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by N5.21 addition to N97.21 per share from N92.00 per share, NASD Plc chalked up N1.14 to sell at N38.50 per unit versus N37.36 per unit, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 26 Kobo to N2.94 per share from N2.68 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc increased by 6 Kobo to 63 Kobo per unit from 57 Kobo per unit, and Lighthouse Financial Plc expanded by 6 Kobo to 72 Kobo per share from 66 Kobo per share.
Conversely, 11 Plc lost N10.22 to quote at N212.08 per unit versus N222.30 per unit, CSCS Plc declined by N5.50 to N58.00 per share from N63.50 per share, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc shrank by 2 Kobo to N2.30 per unit from N2.32 per unit.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has said there is no iota of truth in reports making the rounds that a significant portion of federation earnings is being “diverted”.
The claims came from a recent World Bank report, which the government said the media misinterpreted as “hidden spending.”
In a statement signed on Sunday by the Minister of State for Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, the federal government emphasised that the characterisation of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) deductions as “waste” or missing funds was “incorrect,” noting that the World Bank report presented the deductions as statutory transfers, savings and investments, security-related expenditures, cost-of-collection charges, refunds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and transfers and interventions benefiting subnational governments.
“It is important to emphasise that refunds and transfers to states and other tiers of government are not leakages. They represent legitimate fiscal flows, including repayments of obligations and statutorily backed allocations,” the statement said.
It was further stressed that, “The World Bank explicitly notes that reforms implemented in early 2026, including the recently signed Executive Order to safeguard remittance of petroleum revenues, are already addressing concerns around deductions, and are expected to improve transparency while increasing revenues available to all tiers of government by about 0.4 per cent of GDP annually.”
“Misinterpreting one aspect of the analysis without acknowledging the progressive reforms and measures already introduced to enhance distributable federation revenues gives a distorted picture,” it submitted.
The Nigerian authorities averred that the broader message of the World Bank report is positive and forward-looking, as economic growth is becoming more broad-based across sectors, inflation is declining due to deliberate policy actions, Nigeria’s external position has strengthened, and debt indicators have improved.
The government declared that the World Bank did not say in the report that “Nigeria’s fiscal system is collapsing or that reforms have failed. Rather, it states that reforms are working, and they must be sustained and deepened to translate macroeconomic gains into inclusive growth.”
The statement appealed to “stakeholders, media organisations, and the public to engage constructively with fiscal information and avoid twisted interpretations that may undermine reform efforts and fuel public discord.”
By Dipo Olowookere
On the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, 3.588 billion shares valued at N195.313 billion exchanged hands in 254,553 deals, higher than the 3.361 billion shares worth N151.948 billion traded in 229,442 deals a week earlier.
Over a quarter of these transactions were centred around the trio of Sterling Holdco, Access Holdings, and Zenith Bank, which specifically accounted for 1.038 billion stocks worth N46.081 billion in 33,067 deals, contributing 28.92 per cent and 23.59 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
They helped the financial equities to lead the activity chart with 2.498 billion units sold for N94.005 billion in 111,052 deals, contributing 69.62 per cent and 48.13 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services stocks traded 329.034 million units valued at N3.452 billion in 14,050 deals, and energy shares transacted 152.472million units worth N42.511 billion in 19,022 deals.
In the week, 61 equities appreciated versus 25 equities in the previous week, as 36 stocks depreciated compared with 54 stocks of the preceding week, while 49 shares remained unchanged, in contrast to 67 shares of the previous trading week.
Trans-Nationwide Express gained 60.48 per cent to sell for N6.05, Ecobank appreciated by 46.30 per cent to N67.30, Stanbic IBTC rose by 36.63 per cent to N188.55, Royal Exchange improved by 29.37 per cent to N1,85, and Aradel grew by 28.93 per cent to N1,649.00.
On the flip side, Coronation Insurance lost 14.38 per cent to close at N2.50, Ikeja Hotel declined by 14.36 per cent to N33.40, International Energy Insurance shrank by 13.80 per cent to N3.06, Academy Press slumped by 12.57 per cent to N7.65, and Honeywell Flour crumbled by 11.01 per cent to N19.00.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 6.57 per cent to 217,167.57 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by 6.60 per cent to N139.827 trillion, as the demand for Nigerian stocks soared.
Also, all other indices finished higher apart from the insurance and growth indices, which fell by 0.04 per cent and 0.99 per cent, respectively.
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