Governor of Imo State and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Sen. Hope Uzodimma, has declared that the economic reforms introduced under the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have significantly strengthened Nigeria’s fiscal position, lifted foreign reserves to $49.4 billion, and increased monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to between N1.8 trillion and N2.6 trillion.

Uzodimma stated this on Monday while addressing members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Nigeria at an engagement in Abuja, where he presented what he described as the economic trajectory of the Tinubu administration since May 2023.

The governor told the diplomats that the administration’s twin reforms — the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market had fundamentally altered the country’s fiscal outlook and restored investor confidence.

According to him, the reforms, though initially painful, have begun yielding measurable economic benefits across all tiers of government.

He described the removal of petrol subsidy as one of the most consequential anti-corruption measures ever undertaken in Nigeria, arguing that the previous subsidy regime had become a massive conduit for fraud and revenue leakages.

“For decades, the petroleum subsidy regime in Nigeria functioned as the single largest organised corruption pipeline in our public finances,” Uzodimma said.

“It was not only an economic distortion; it was an extraction system. Subsidies were claimed on imaginary volumes of petrol, huge volumes of imported subsidised petrol were rerouted across porous borders, allocations were inflated, and receipts were manufactured to cover the scam.”

He noted that successive administrations had acknowledged the distortions created by the subsidy regime but lacked the political will to dismantle it because of the immediate political consequences.

According to him, President Tinubu ended the subsidy arrangement on his first day in office, thereby shutting down what he described as the biggest avenue of organised corruption in the federal system.

Uzodimma argued that resources previously lost to subsidy payments are now being redirected toward infrastructure development, social investments and fiscal expansion.

He disclosed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves rose from about $32 billion in mid-2024 to $49.4 billion by the end of March 2026, representing approximately 13 months of import cover.

The governor said the improved reserve position reflected stronger macroeconomic management and enhanced confidence in Nigeria’s economy.

He further stated that the naira float and exchange rate unification had restored transparency to the foreign exchange market by eliminating the multiple exchange rate windows that previously encouraged arbitrage and rent-seeking.

According to him, the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates, which previously exceeded 30 per cent, has now fallen below two per cent.

“The chaos that used to make Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators effectively fictitious has been retired,” he said.
“An investor coming into Nigeria today can build a financial model that holds. A multinational planning regional headquarters in Lagos or Abuja is no longer asked to bet on which exchange rate will be enforceable when the time comes to repatriate earnings.”

Uzodimma also disclosed that diaspora remittances, which hovered around $200 million monthly in 2023, have increased to an average of $600 million monthly, while foreign exchange market liquidity reached $10 billion in April 2026.

He added that the administration had cleared over $10 billion in foreign exchange liabilities and secured more than $50 billion in foreign direct investment commitments.

The governor further cited credit rating upgrades by Fitch Ratings and Moody’s as evidence that international institutions were beginning to acknowledge the impact of the reforms.

On fiscal expansion, Uzodimma said monthly FAAC disbursements now range between N1.8 trillion and N2.6 trillion, compared to substantially lower figures before the reforms.

He revealed that in January 2026 alone, more than N2.59 trillion was shared from December 2025 revenue.

According to him, state governments now receive between N700 billion and N800 billion monthly, with allocations to states reaching N784 billion in February 2026, representing a 23 per cent increase over the corresponding period in the previous year.

The governor said the increased revenues have transformed the fiscal capacity of subnational governments.
“Thanks to this policy, the era of state governors travelling to the Federal Capital to ask for emergency bailouts to pay salaries is over,” he stated.

“The era of subnational governments regularly taking high-interest commercial loans simply to meet their monthly wage bills is over.”

Uzodimma added that the improved fiscal environment has enabled federal and state governments to undertake large-scale infrastructure and social development projects.

Among the flagship projects highlighted were the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.
He said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was already stimulating economic activities along the corridor, with property values in the Ibeju-Lekki and Epe axis reportedly rising by about 35 per cent year-on-year.

Uzodimma also noted that over 440 ongoing road projects and more than 2,700 kilometres of superhighway construction are currently underway across the country.

Beyond infrastructure, the governor pointed to gains in education, taxation, agriculture and the digital economy as additional evidence of the impact of the reforms.

He disclosed that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund had disbursed N242.4 billion to over 1.388 million students across 288 tertiary institutions, with funds covering tuition payments and student upkeep allowances.

On tax reforms, Uzodimma said the administration had exempted workers earning N800,000 or less annually from personal income tax, while small businesses with turnover below N100 million are exempt from several categories of taxes.

He further highlighted the rapid growth of Nigeria’s digital economy, which he said is projected to generate $18.3 billion in revenue by the end of 2026.
According to him, Nigeria now hosts five technology unicorns, including Flutterwave, Interswitch, OPay, Andela and Moniepoint.

Uzodimma acknowledged that the reforms have generated opposition from groups affected by the dismantling of old economic structures, but insisted that the administration remains focused on long-term outcomes.

“Reform produces political opposition. That is the nature of democratic systems,” he said.

“When entrenched interests are disrupted, those who were benefiting from the prior arrangement do not retire quietly.”

He urged foreign governments, investors and development partners to rely on verifiable economic data rather than political narratives circulating in the media and social platforms.

The governor maintained that the Renewed Hope agenda was not merely a political slogan but a comprehensive framework for economic restructuring, institutional rebuilding and national competitiveness.

“A country that has absorbed an external shock of the magnitude caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and continues to grow at four per cent, with external reserves above $48 billion and a stock market that has risen by as much as 55 per cent since January, is a country that is not merely surviving its reform period,” he said.