Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a dramatic collapse in Nigeria's agricultural export earnings, citing official trade data that shows the sector swung from a surplus of ₦740.27 billion in the first half of 2025 to a deficit of ₦56.13 billion in the same period of 2026.
In a statement issued by the ADC Presidential Campaign Council and made available to Legit.ng on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, Atiku said farmers remain exposed to insecurity while manufacturers face costs that are making local production unviable. The statement was signed by Phrank Shaibu, the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council.
Agricultural Trade Balance Swing of ₦796.40 Billion in One Year
According to the statement, Nigeria's agricultural trade balance moved from a surplus of ₦740.27 billion in the first half of 2025 to a deficit of ₦56.13 billion in the same period of 2026, representing a swing of ₦796.40 billion within one year. Agricultural exports declined by 33.3 per cent over that period.
“The excuse that Nigerians simply imported too much will not stand. Tinubu's government must answer for the collapse in what Nigeria sold to the world,” Atiku said in the statement.
Atiku pointed to cashew nuts in shell and cocoa beans among Nigeria's leading agricultural exports as evidence that the country continues to ship raw commodities abroad rather than building processing industries at home.
Atiku Criticises Raw Commodity Exports and High Production Costs
“We grow the crop. Someone else does more of the processing, builds a business around it and earns the larger return. Then Tinubu speaks of jobs while Nigerian factories struggle to compete,” he said.
Atiku argued that the Tinubu administration had made production expensive and presented the resulting hardship as economic reform. He questioned the administration's record on farming safety, produce transportation costs, processing plant operations, and the profitability of selling finished Nigerian products abroad.
“What has his administration done to make it safer to farm, cheaper to move produce, easier to keep a processing plant running or more profitable to sell a finished Nigerian product abroad?” Atiku asked.
Production Subsidy Proposal and CNG Initiative Criticism
The former vice president said his policy platform centres on retaining more production, employment and value within Nigeria. He proposed a capped, budgeted and independently audited production subsidy covering petroleum products refined domestically, including those from modular refineries, with imported products excluded.
Atiku criticised the Tinubu administration's compressed natural gas (CNG) initiative as having failed to deliver meaningful relief, citing the high cost of vehicle conversion kits and the limited availability of buses presented to the public as palliatives.
“Nigerians need practical relief they can actually access, not schemes whose costs and shortages put the promised benefits out of reach,” he said.
Atiku, who was ratified as the presidential candidate of the ADC on May 29, 2026, said his administration would introduce the production subsidy from its first day in office and extend similar backing to farmers and processors.
“Tinubu's record is becoming painfully clear: Nigeria supplies raw crops and crude oil while Nigerians pay dearly for finished goods,” he said.
Atiku Slams Tinubu on World Teachers' Day
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that Atiku honoured Nigerian teachers on World Teachers' Day while speaking out against the economic hardship battering their livelihoods. The former vice president recalled his own teachers from Jada and attacked President Tinubu for failing to name a single teacher from his past.
Atiku promised to pursue policies that reduce the cost of petrol, transport, rent and electricity if elected in 2027.
