ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Federal Government has said the removal of fuel subsidy and reforms in the foreign exchange market generated ₦15.8 trillion in additional resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Wednesday while unveiling the government’s “Nigerians’ Reform Scorecard”, designed to assess the costs, benefits and impact of economic reforms implemented by the administration.

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Oyedele clarified that the ₦15.8 trillion did not appear as a direct credit to the Federation Account under a specific “subsidy savings” line. Rather, the gains were reflected through increased revenue collections resulting from the reforms.

According to the minister, the removal of the fuel subsidy regime and liberalisation of the foreign exchange market increased the naira value of dollar-denominated customs duties and other government revenues.

He explained that the previous foreign exchange regime had created opportunities for arbitrage and corruption instead of delivering the desired economic stability.

“We were subsidising the exchange rates, and that subsidy was not going to the ordinary person or manufacturers; it was going to rent seekers,” Oyedele said.

The minister disclosed that the Federal Government received ₦5.4 trillion from the additional resources, while ₦10.4 trillion accrued to state and local governments through the Federation allocation system.

Oyedele also revealed that the Federal Government generated an additional ₦3.1 trillion in independent revenue during the period, largely driven by increased remittances from government-owned entities.

He further disclosed that the government raised ₦11.9 trillion through incremental borrowing between June 2023 and December 2025.

However, Oyedele argued that the level of borrowing would have been considerably higher without the fiscal space created by the government’s economic reforms.

“The additional borrowing that the Federal Government took for that period of time, June 2023 to December 2025, amounted to N11.9tn,” he said.

He added that the borrowing “would have been far higher and economically destabilising without the fiscal space the reforms created.”

The minister’s presentation comes amid continuing public debate over the economic impact of fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms, particularly their effects on inflation, household purchasing power, businesses and government revenues.

The Federal Government has consistently defended the reforms as necessary measures to address structural weaknesses in the economy, increase government revenue and reduce distortions in the foreign exchange market.