Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu over the decline in Nigeria’s agricultural export earnings, saying farmers and manufacturers are being weighed down by insecurity and high production costs.

Atiku Abubakar said the government had failed to deliver the productive economy it promised, arguing that Nigeria continues to export agricultural commodities without retaining enough of the jobs and economic value that could come from processing them locally.

“Tinubu cannot call this reform when the people who grow our food and the businesses that should process it are being squeezed from both sides,” Atiku said.

In a statement signed by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku cited recent trade figures showing a sharp reversal in Nigeria’s agricultural trade position.

According to him, the sector moved from a ₦740.27 billion surplus in the first half of 2025 to a ₦56.13 billion deficit in the corresponding period of 2026, representing a ₦796.40 billion decline within one year.

He noted that agricultural exports dropped by 33.3 per cent during the period, while imports also declined, but at a slower rate.

“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.

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

Atiku also pointed to Nigeria’s major agricultural exports, including cashew nuts in shell and cocoa beans, as examples of commodities whose value could be increased through greater domestic processing.

“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.

“A trade deficit alone does not explain every problem on our farms. But after more than three years in office, the President owns the decisions that have left farmers exposed and producers burdened. He cannot claim credit for every favourable statistic and disown a ₦796.40 billion reversal when the figures turn against him.”

The former vice president said his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined locally was based on the same principle of retaining more production, jobs and economic value within Nigeria.

He said the proposed support would apply to qualifying products produced by Nigerian refineries, including modular refineries, while imported products would be excluded. According to him, the scheme would be capped, provided for in the budget and subjected to independent auditing to ensure that any savings are reflected in the cost of goods and services.

Atiku also criticised the Tinubu administration’s Compressed Natural Gas initiative, describing it as ineffective as a relief measure because many Nigerians cannot afford vehicle conversion, while access to conversion kits and the promised buses remains limited.

“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. 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.

“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.

“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.”