Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, today gave a detailed account of the financial impacts of President Tinubu’s economic reforms since 2023. The presentation contains important indices like where the money came from, where it went to and how it has benefited the citizenry.
Here are the 12 key numbers.
1/12 — ₦15.8 TRILLION
Subsidy savings mobilized
Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilized ₦15.8 trillion for the Federation. This represents resources freed up following the removal of the fuel subsidy and made available within the Federation’s fiscal system.
2/12 — ₦5.4 TRILLION
Federal Government’s share
Of the ₦15.8 trillion in subsidy savings, ₦5.4 trillion accrued to the Federal Government. The remaining ₦10.4 trillion was shared with states and local governments.
3/12 — ₦10.4 TRILLION
States and local governments
States and local governments received ₦10.4 trillion from the subsidy savings. This is important because the fiscal effect of subsidy removal was not confined to the Federal Government; a substantial portion flowed through Federation revenue sharing to subnational governments.
4/12 — ₦3.1 TRILLION
Incremental independent revenue
The Federal Government generated ₦3.1 trillion in incremental independent revenue, principally through remittances from government-owned entities. This formed part of the additional resources available to the Federal Government during the period.
5/12 — ₦11.9 TRILLION
Incremental borrowing
The Federal Government recorded ₦11.9 trillion in incremental borrowing.
The Minister’s point is that borrowing would have been substantially higher, and economically destabilizing, without the fiscal space created by the reforms.
6/12 — ₦20.4 TRILLION
Total incremental Federal resources
Taken together, subsidy savings accruing to the Federal Government, incremental independent revenue and incremental borrowing brought total Federal Government incremental resources to ₦20.4 trillion.
7/12 — ₦30.64 TRILLION
Incremental expenditure
Those additional resources partly funded ₦30.64 trillion in incremental expenses. The Government therefore makes clear that the resources generated did not sit idle; they were deployed alongside the existing revenue base to meet additional government expenditure.
8/12 — ₦9.39 TRILLION
Wages, minimum wage and allowances
The largest incremental expenditure line was ₦9.39 trillion for wage adjustments; minimum wage increases and allowances for public servants. The Minister specifically notes that this amount exceeded the Federal Government’s entire ₦5.4 trillion share of subsidy savings.
11/12 — ₦9.37 TRILLION
External debt service
Another ₦9.37 trillion went to external debt service made necessary by exchange-rate depreciation. Together, wages and external debt service accounted for the two largest incremental expenditure lines.
12/12 — ₦6.5 TRILLION
Strategic infrastructure
The third-largest incremental expenditure line was ₦6.5 trillion for strategic infrastructure.
This was part of the ₦30.64 trillion in incremental expenses recorded over the period.
Bonus Nuggets
1/3 — ABOUT ₦10 TRILLION
Existing revenue base
The Government says approximately ₦10 trillion of the ₦30.64 trillion in incremental spending came from the existing revenue base. In other words, the new resources funded about two-thirds of new spending, while the remaining third came from the existing revenue base.
2/3 — ₦30 TRILLION
Legacy Ways and Means stock
The legacy Ways and Means stock stood at ₦30 trillion in May 2023. The Government says this stock has been curtailed rather than allowed to double, as the government’s estimate suggests would have happened if the pre-reform trajectory had continued.
3/3 — THE BIG PICTURE
The numbers tell a resource story: ₦20.4 trillion in incremental Federal resources, alongside an existing revenue base, helped fund ₦30.64 trillion in incremental expenditure. The Reform Scorecard presents these figures not simply as revenue gains, but as an account of what was mobilized, where it went, and what fiscal pressures the reforms helped prevent. That is the context in which the numbers should be assessed.
