The Independent Media and Policy Initiatives (IMPI) has insisted that President Bola Tinubu caused a turnaround in Nigeria’s economy by deploying tools of economic progressivism.

In a policy statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI argued that it was the best of way of weaning the country off decades of profligacy.

It said, “Like the USA, Nigeria has had periods of decadent public value and normalisation of profligacy in high offices.

“Before the economic reforms initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2023, the Nigerian economy was characterised by a deeply entrenched oligarchy, where a small group of political elites, military officers, and business moguls controlled state resources.

“This structure was sustained by a patronage system, particularly in the oil sector, which benefited a select few while the majority of the population faced poverty, with 63 per cent (about 133 million people) living in multidimensional poverty by 2022.

“The “pre-reform” economic landscape was defined by several key oligarchic and structural features: A significant portion of the oligarchy benefited from the fuel subsidy system, which was described as being rife with corruption and used as a “feeding bottle” for a select few.

“The existence of multiple exchange rate windows allowed “FX subsidy merchants” to exploit the gap between official and parallel market rates, effectively draining government finances. Economic power was heavily concentrated in the petroleum industry, with access to oil revenues controlled by those in power and their close associates.

“By the time Tinubu took office, Nigeria was spending approximately 97 percent of its total revenue on debt servicing, a situation described as “disastrous”.

“Beyond the oligarchy’s capture of the Nigerian state, we note the obvious decimation of the nation’s fiscal substance before the coming of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the federal administration in 2015.

“Data show that Nigeria’s export profile changed significantly after 2014, resetting to a lower range that has persisted despite periodic recoveries. Nigeria reached a peak crude oil and gas export value of $93.89 billion in 2011, the highest in the dataset.

“At this time, however, we can submit with much assertion that the federal administration has, indeed, taken Nigeria out of the woods, evidenced by a turnaround economy that shows an indication of stability while unlocking the stranglehold of the oligarchs on the nation’s economy”.

IMPI also outlined several policies and programmes introduced by the Tinubu administration which, it said, have helped steer the country toward economic stability.

The group explained that as part of what it described as an ideology-driven economic recovery, the Tinubu-led Federal Government has applied key progressive policy tools to achieve the current results.

These measures include fiscal and tax reforms, redistributive spending, estate and wealth taxation, protection of labour and wealth, monetary and financial sector reforms, infrastructural development, as well as increased public investment and ownership.

The policy group also provided some insights into the impact of economic progressivism on the landscape.

“Allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2025 experienced a significant surge, with the three tiers of government sharing over ₦33.27 trillion in the first eleven months, a 30 percent increase over the same period in 2024.

“This growth, driven by subsidy removal and exchange rate reforms, included record monthly distributions, such as ₦3.64 trillion in September 2025, significantly boosting subnational revenue