The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has pushed back against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that the Bola Tinubu administration has resorted to excessive borrowing, importation and taxation, describing the allegations as unsupported by available data.
Atiku, the Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), had said in a recent statement that Nigeria could not “borrow, import and tax its way to prosperity,” suggesting the Federal Government had leaned heavily on borrowing, importation and taxation of citizens.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG said Atiku’s position was untenable and accused him of misreading recent inflation data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed a month-on-month decline in headline inflation despite a slight uptick in food prices.
The group said Atiku’s statement overlooked that food inflation for June 2026 stood at 17.52%, a significant improvement from 25.41% in June 2025, and argued that the former Vice President wrongly attributed rising food prices to increased imports. TMSG credited the administration’s waivers on certain food imports with helping bring down the national food inflation rate year-on-year.
The group also noted that while Atiku highlighted high inflation figures in Kogi State, he did not mention comparatively low rates in Katsina (19.15%), Rivers (23.81%) and Imo (24.60%) states.
TMSG attributed the broader rise in food prices to the impact of the Middle East conflict on fuel and transportation costs, saying inflation had been on a steady decline from late 2025 until the crisis began March 2026.
On the question of taxation, TMSG rejected Atiku’s characterisation as misleading, pointing to tax reforms under Tinubu administration that it said have introduced reliefs for small businesses and low-income earners.
According to the group, the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA) grants small businesses zero per cent Companies Income Tax (CIT), zero per cent Capital Gains Tax, and exemption from the 4% Development Levy, alongside the removal of mandatory withholding tax deductions on small business transactions. It added that individuals earning up to N1.2 million annually are now fully exempt income tax.
TMSG argued that Nigerians currently enjoy more tax reliefs than at any point in recent history, including during Atiku’s tenure as Vice President with oversight of the country’s economic team, and urged Nigerians to view his comments as driven by political motives rather than genuine national concern.
