‘Nigeria Bleeding Reserves Despite ₦5trn Oil Windfall’, Ex-VP Atiku Raises Alarm

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has raised fresh concerns over what he described as contradictions in Nigeria’s economic management, warning that the country’s external reserves were shrinking despite a reported oil revenue windfall.

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In a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku highlighted that Nigeria’s external reserves dropped to $48.45 billion as of April 24, down from $48.72 billion the previous week, with a cumulative decline of about $1.57 billion since March 11.

This, he noted, came at a time when the country reportedly earned about ₦5 trillion in oil windfall within the same period, an apparent contradiction he described as evidence of “a dangerous pattern of economic mismanagement.”

According to the Opposition leader, the persistent depletion of reserves suggested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was “aggressively injecting liquidity to artificially defend the naira.”

“This is not stability—it is a fragile illusion sustained by burning through national savings,” Atiku said. “A nation cannot consume its buffers to mask policy failures while ignoring the structural weaknesses undermining its currency. Defending the naira without fixing productivity, exports, and investor confidence is akin to pouring water into a basket.”

He further expressed concern that the oil windfall, driven largely by external geopolitical developments rather than domestic policy, has not translated into relief for citizens.

“At a time when government revenues are rising, Nigerians are facing severe fuel hardship, with rising pump prices, soaring transport costs, and crushing inflation. This paradox is both unjust and unsustainable,” he stated.

The former vice president issued two key warnings to the Federal Government, urging that the windfall must not be spent on recurrent expenditure or political patronage.

“It must be deployed deliberately to provide targeted relief to Nigerians—through structured interventions that cushion the impact of fuel price increases, stabilise food supply chains, and support the most vulnerable,” he said. “To do otherwise is to profit from the suffering of the people while offering them nothing in return.”

He also cautioned against continued reliance on external reserves to prop up the naira, advocating instead for long-term economic reforms.

“The government must abandon the reckless defence of the naira through reserve depletion and instead invest this windfall in long-term economic strength,” Atiku said. “Priority must be given to domestic refining capacity, critical infrastructure, and policies that boost non-oil exports and restore investor confidence. The naira cannot be defended by force; it must be strengthened by fundamentals.”

Atiku stressed that how the government manages the current windfall would be a test of leadership and fiscal discipline.

“Windfalls are tests of leadership. They reveal whether a government is committed to sustainable nation-building or addicted to short-term optics,” he said. “Nigeria’s external reserves are not a political war chest, and this oil windfall is not a license for fiscal indiscipline.”

He added that Nigerians deserved “honesty, discipline, and foresight, not illusion, waste, and economic brinkmanship.”