NESG tells FG: next reform phase must cut production costs and fix power
- The Nigerian Economic Summit Group says reforms have steadied the economy but not yet reached ordinary households.
- Its chairman cited food inflation of 19.59 percent and a fall in power generation to 4,454 megawatts.
- Budget minister Abubakar Bagudu said the government will stay the course and keep fuel subsidy removed.
Nigeria's economy is steadier than it was two years ago, but the gains are not yet reaching businesses and households, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) said on Monday in Abuja.
Speaking at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit, NESG chairman Olaniyi Yusuf said the next phase of reforms must focus on lowering production costs, reliable infrastructure, productive investment and better public spending.
He pointed to the gap between headline numbers and daily life. Headline inflation fell to 14.63 percent in September, down from 34.8 percent in 2024, according to figures he gave. But food inflation was still 19.59 percent.
Slower inflation, Yusuf explained, does not mean prices have fallen. It means they are rising more slowly from levels that already stretch household budgets.
Power output and debt in focus
Yusuf said electricity and gas output contracted by about 11.6 percent in the first half of 2026, with generation dropping from 5,400 megawatts in the last quarter of 2025 to 4,454 megawatts in the second quarter of 2026.
He also flagged rising public debt, which he put at approximately $166.79 trillion in June 2026, and said debt servicing now takes about 50 percent of federal revenue. Real GDP grew 4.43 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, up from 3.89 percent in the first quarter, he noted.
On jobs, Yusuf said the country must look past the unemployment headline to informality, job quality and incomes. "Having work does not necessarily mean earning an adequate income," he said.
He said Nigeria's large, youthful population is an opportunity only if young people get relevant skills and are connected to productive work.
Budget and Economic Planning Minister Abubakar Bagudu said the reforms are working, citing 13 straight quarters of GDP growth, a steadier exchange rate and falling inflation pressure.
He said monthly revenue shared among federal, state and local governments has risen sharply, with several sub-national entities seeing revenues increase more than fivefold. He said this reflects true constitutional federalism.
Bagudu said President Bola Tinubu secured agreements with state governors at the National Economic Council on six priorities, including aligning fiscal and monetary policy, raising security spending, boosting infrastructure and curbing revenue losses in the extractive sector.
He said more than $6 billion has been mobilised from the World Bank and other development partners to support households.
"There will be no return to subsidy; there will be no return to those distortions," Bagudu said, adding that the government will calibrate its policies to confront poverty and the cost of living.
He said mapping is under way across all 8,809 wards to identify local growth drivers in farming, fishing and livestock for the National Development Plan 2026–2030.
What happens next
The NESG is pushing for cheaper production and steadier power. For ordinary Nigerians, the test will be whether food prices ease and electricity improves. The government says it is staying the course.
