President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive examination of deductions and culture of revenue retention by Nigeria’s top revenue-generating agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
The directive, given at Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) sitting in Abuja, is meant to increase public savings, improve efficiency in expenditure, and release more resources to finance economic growth. Tinubu further asked for NNPC’s 30% management fee and 30% frontier exploration allowance under the Petroleum Industry Act to be reconsidered.
Commending FEC members for leading robust reforms that shattered economic distortions, restored policy credibility, and improved investor confidence, the President explained that the measures have put Nigeria in a position to attract more domestic and foreign investments in some of the nation’s priority sectors such as infrastructure, oil and gas, health, and manufacturing.
Reiterating his Renewed Hope Agenda, Tinubu maintained his vision of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030, requiring at least 7% annual growth from 2027 a vision he described as an economic as well as moral imperative for poverty reduction. He referenced the July 2025 IMF Article IV report, which supported Nigeria’s positive economic trajectory and importance of investment-led growth.
The President also initiated the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme, a ward-level program whose objective is to touch all 8,809 wards in the nation and economically empower active citizens while reducing poverty with the help of subnational governments and private sector partners.
Tinubu stressed that with public investment at only 5% of GDP levels due to low savings levels, making the best use of every naira at hand takes precedence, especially in the context of global liquidity constraints. He tasked the Economic Management Team headed by Finance Minister Wale Edun to review all withdrawal from the Federation Account including cost-of-collection fees and submit actionable recommendations to FEC.
Edun pointed to the improvement in macroeconomic factors like stabilized exchange rates, easing inflation, rising revenues, and stable debt ratios, attributing Nigeria’s growing appeal to investors. He added that rising public sector savings is still a priority in order to achieve extra funds for investment.
The minister also placed two memos: one for $125 million Islamic Development Bank funding for Abia State infrastructure, which comprises 35km of Umuahia roads and 126km in Aba; and another for refinancing ₦4 trillion of outstanding debts in the electricity sector to be undertaken in phases within three to four weeks.
