General
Obi, Atiku Slam Tinubu on Tax, Economic Policies
By Adedapo Adesanya
Former presidential candidates at the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi and Mr Atiku Abubakar, have separately slammed President Bola Tinubu on issues relating to economic conditions of Nigerians.
Mr Obi in a statement argued that taxation must be rooted in transparency, fairness, and concern for citizens’ welfare, cautioning that the ongoing controversy over the alleged manipulated tax law threatens economic growth and public trust.
Despite recent controversies, the new tax laws regime have officially kicked off.
“For the first time in Nigeria’s history, a tax law has reportedly been forged. The National Assembly itself has admitted that the version gazetted is not what was passed into law,” he said.
“Yet, citizens are being asked to pay higher taxes under this manipulated framework, without transparency, without explanation, and without corresponding benefits,” the candidate of the Labour Party in 2023 noted.
Mr Obi, who is now with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), stressed that “taxing poverty does not create wealth; it deepens hardship,” urging the government to focus instead on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises, which he said are critical for job creation, income growth, and the natural expansion of the tax base.”
“You cannot tax your way out of poverty, you must produce your way out of it,” he noted, calling for a lawful, fair, and people-centered tax system that supports production, rewards enterprise, protects the vulnerable, and restores trust between government and citizens.
“Nigeria needs a fair, lawful, and people-centred tax system, only then can taxation become a true tool for unity, growth, and shared prosperity,” Mr Obi concluded in the statement posted on his official X handle.
On his part, Mr Abubakar, a former Vice President, warned that policy failures under President Tinubu are deepening business distress, accelerating job losses, and pushing the country toward economic collapse.
In a New Year message to Nigerians, he described 2025 as “one of the most punishing years in our recent history,” marked by what he called “economic suffocation” and governance devoid of empathy.
He said the Tinubu-led administration presided over months of fiscal drift, borrowing heavily while businesses struggled to survive.
“The past year exposed, in stark terms, the incompetence and policy bankruptcy of President Bola Tinubu,” Mr Atiku said, adding that the government governed “for months without a functional budget, relying on propaganda while borrowing recklessly.”
From a business perspective, Mr Atiku, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential poll, warned that the operating environment for enterprises deteriorated sharply, with small and medium-sized businesses bearing the brunt of inflation, weak consumer demand, and policy uncertainty.
“Industries shut down. Workers were sent home. Hunger spread. Suffering became normalized,” he said.
He also questioned the credibility of the government’s reform agenda, citing what he described as a scandal involving a forged tax law.
“Nothing better captures the decay of this government than the scandal of a forged tax law, shamelessly branded a ‘reform’,” Mr Atiku, who has also now defected to the ADC, said, warning that “a government that begins reform with forgery cannot end with prosperity.”
Mr Atiku further dismissed official claims of revenue performance, arguing that worsening insecurity and debt accumulation were eroding investor confidence.
“While drowning the nation in debt, the government falsely claimed to have met revenue targets,” he said, noting that kidnappings and violent crimes had disrupted livelihoods and economic activity nationwide.
He said unemployment, labour unrest and collapsing enterprises defined the year, contradicting repeated assurances of economic recovery.
“Small businesses, the backbone of job creation, are collapsing. Workers are losing jobs,” Atiku said, arguing that policies demanding sacrifice from citizens were unjustified.
He warned, however, that weak institutions and disregard for due process could undermine future economic stability and elections. “A government capable of forging or tampering with laws cannot be trusted to conduct free and fair elections in 2027,” he said.
Calling for civic engagement, Mr Atiku urged Nigerians and the business community to organize for change through democratic means. “Democracy gives the people the power to change a failing government, peacefully and decisively, through the ballot,” he said.
He concluded with a call to action: “Let us vote out hunger, insecurity, unemployment, dishonesty, corruption, abductions, lies, and propaganda. Nigeria deserves better. Nigerians deserve dignity.”
Business Post reports that both Mr Obi and Mr Atiku are planning to work with other politicians to oust Mr Tinubu in the 2027 general elections through the ADC.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has announced that Nigeria will launch a new alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, 2026, with every home expected to have a unique postcode.
Mr Tijani disclosed the development in a video post on X, describing the new system as a more precise and digitally oriented approach to addressing locations across the country.
He said the initiative would mark a significant shift in Nigeria’s postal addressing system by assigning unique postcodes to individual homes.
The initiative marks a major step in Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda. By replacing the outdated numeric-only system, the alphanumeric codes provide a more flexible and scalable framework that can accommodate the country’s rapid urban growth and diverse settlement patterns.
For emphasis, an alphanumeric postcode system is a postal indexing system that uses a combination of both letters (alpha) and numbers (numeric), along with spaces or punctuation, to identify specific geographic locations, streets, or individual buildings for mail delivery.
Unlike purely numeric postcode systems (such as the 5-digit US ZIP Code or 5-digit codes used in some European countries), alphanumeric codes offer a much higher number of unique combinations using fewer total characters. This flexibility allows postal authorities to pinpoint locations with incredible precision, often down to a single side of a street or a specific large building.
“On October 1st 2026 Nigeria’s new Alphanumeric Postcode System goes live,” Mr Tijani said.
“For the first time, every home will be assigned a unique postcode that’s simple, precise and built for a digital future,” he added.
The minister urged Nigerians to prepare to generate their individual postcodes ahead of the launch.
The new system is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s digital addressing infrastructure and improve the identification and location of homes and properties for postal and other location-based services.
The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) as part of broader efforts to modernise the country’s addressing and digital infrastructure.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has been directed to give an account to Nigerians on how the current government has fared since its inception on May 29, 2023.
This directive was given by President Bola Tinubu in a message posted on his verified social media handles on Wednesday.
This coincides with the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 presidential election scheduled for January 16.
According to the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), candidates seeking to become the country’s president are eligible to kick off their campaigns from today, Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
In his message today, Mr Tinubu said, “When we began this journey of reform in 2023, I promised that the difficult decisions we were making would serve the purpose of building an economy that works better for you and a country that is stronger for our children.
“Today, your government presents The Reforms Scorecard. It sets out what our reforms have achieved, what they have cost us, and the greater costs and harms we have prevented by acting when we did.
“I have therefore directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to give an account to Nigerians, to explain the numbers, the choices we have made, the progress recorded, and the work that remains.
“You deserve to see the numbers. You deserve to know what has changed and what these reforms mean for you, your family, your business and our country.
“This is your government. This is your country. This is our account to you.”
Shortly after he took the oath of office over three years ago, President Tinubu declared that subsidies on petroleum products were gone. He later approved foreign exchange (FX) reforms, which devalued the Nigerian Naira, shooting from about N800 per Dollar to nearly N2,000 per Dollar. However, it is currently slightly above N1,340 per Dollar in the official market.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE) Limited are advancing discussions on the development of deepwater assets estimated to hold 500 million barrels of oil reserves.
The development followed a meeting between the chief executive of the state oil company, Mr Bayo Ojulari, and Agip’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Maurizio Pinna, in Abuja.
The talks focused on ongoing work on deepwater acreage jointly held by NNPC, NAE and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) as well as plans to bring the associated resources into production.
According to NNPC, the acreage comprises the Zabazaba and Etan deepwater fields, with estimated reserves of about 500 million barrels.
The fields are located in Nigeria’s deepwater terrain and are considered significant to the country’s efforts to expand its upstream oil production base, particularly as operators seek to advance projects capable of delivering additional barrels over the medium to long term.
While details of the expected production timeline were not disclosed, the meeting underscores renewed industry focus on unlocking Nigeria’s deepwater resources and growing crude oil production.
The acreage comprises licences converted from OPL 245 and is operated by NAE in partnership with NNPC Limited and SNEPCo.
Mr Ojulari and Mr Pinna also reviewed the work currently underway on the assets and the expected production outlook, with the discussions centred on advancing deepwater development.
The engagement comes amid renewed efforts to attract investment into Nigeria’s offshore petroleum resources and increase national oil production.
