Atiku Raises Alarm Over N796bn Swing in Nigeria’s Agricultural Trade

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has raised concerns over what he described as a sharp reversal in Nigeria’s agricultural trade balance, which he said moved from a N740.27 billion surplus to a N56.13 billion deficit within one year.

Atiku, in a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, attributed the N796.40 billion reversal to a 33.3 per cent decline in agricultural exports during the first half of 2026 compared with the corresponding period of 2025.

He linked the development to insecurity affecting farmers, escalating production costs confronting manufacturers and Nigeria’s continued export of raw agricultural commodities without sufficient local processing to retain greater economic value.

“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.

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

Atiku further argued that insecurity, the cost of transporting farm produce and the expense of keeping processing plants operational had compounded the difficulties confronting the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

He also pointed to Nigeria’s continued export of commodities such as cashew nuts in shell and cocoa beans as evidence of the value being lost through inadequate 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,” he contended.

Turning to his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria, Atiku said the policy would be structured to retain more production, employment and economic value within the country.

He explained that the proposed intervention would cover qualifying products refined locally, including those produced by modular refineries, while imported products would be excluded, with the scheme subject to spending limits, budgetary provision and independent auditing.

According to him, mechanisms would also be established to determine whether the savings generated by the intervention ultimately reached consumers and businesses.

Atiku equally faulted the Tinubu administration’s compressed natural gas (CNG) initiative, arguing that the cost of vehicle conversion and limited access to conversion kits had placed the programme beyond the reach of many Nigerians.

“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,” he submitted.

Atiku pledged that, if elected, his administration would restore what he described as a transparent production subsidy from its first day in office while extending similar support to farmers and processors.

“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,” he promised.

He argued that the wider economic challenge lay in Nigeria’s continued pattern of exporting raw materials while importing finished products at considerably higher costs.

“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,” Atiku concluded.

ADVERTISE WITH US

Do you want to reach your targeted audience and expand your brand’s visibility?

Advertise with Polity Reporters to place your “message” before the right audience.

For advertising enquiries, reach us through:

Email: bandcommunications001@gmail.com

Facebook: Polity Reporters

WhatsApp: 07043810558