Tinubu imports food, abandons farmers — Atiku

Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of presiding over a sharp reversal in Nigeria’s agricultural trade, saying the country moved from a N740.27 billion surplus to a N56.13 billion deficit in one year.

Atiku said the figures were a troubling reflection of an economy in which farmers are struggling with insecurity, manufacturers are battling high production costs and Nigeria continues to lose value by exporting raw agricultural products instead of processing them locally.

In a statement by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said agricultural exports fell by 33.3 per cent in the first half of 2026, contributing to the N796.40 billion reversal from the corresponding period of 2025.

“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. The country is losing export earnings, and the President owes farmers, workers and businesses more than another speech about prosperity,” Atiku said.

He said insecurity, the cost of moving farm produce and the burden of keeping processing plants running had further weakened production.

“Farmers cannot cultivate promises. Manufacturers cannot power factories with speeches. Workers cannot feed their families on assurances that prosperity is coming,” he said.

Atiku said Nigeria’s continued export of products such as cashew nuts in shell and cocoa beans showed how much value the country was losing by failing to process more of its agricultural produce locally.

“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 has made production expensive and called the resulting hardship reform,” Atiku said.

Turning to his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria, Atiku said the policy would be aimed at keeping more production, jobs and value within the country.

He said the subsidy would cover qualifying products from Nigerian refineries, including modular refineries, while imported products would not qualify. It would also be capped, budgeted and independently audited, with measures to track whether savings reach consumers and businesses.

Atiku also criticised the Tinubu administration’s CNG initiative, saying the cost of vehicle conversion and difficulty accessing conversion kits had put the programme beyond the reach of many Nigerians.

“Local refining is about more than the price at the petrol pump. Aviation fuel affects fares. LPG affects the cost of cooking. Petroleum products and feedstocks affect industries and the people they employ,” he said.

“Nigerians need practical relief they can actually access—not schemes whose costs and shortages put the promised benefits out of reach. The value of our resources must reach Nigerians beyond the refinery gate.”

Atiku pledged that, if elected, his administration would restore what he described as a transparent production subsidy from its first day in office and extend similar support to farmers and processors.

“My administration will begin restoring a transparent production subsidy from Day One. We will back farmers and processors with the same determination. Grow it here. Process it here. Refine it here. Create the jobs here. Make life affordable here,” he said.

He said the wider problem was that Nigeria continued to export raw materials while importing finished products at high cost.

“Tinubu’s record is becoming painfully clear: Nigeria supplies raw crops and crude oil while Nigerians pay dearly for finished goods. A government that cannot turn our resources into affordable products and decent jobs has failed the people it was elected to serve,” Atiku said.