CPPE warns against reversing reforms, says Nigeria must turn stability into jobs

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned that reversing Nigeria’s economic reforms would damage the economy and urged the government to shift its focus from macroeconomic stabilisation to productivity, jobs and improved living standards.

The organisation made the call in a statement on Sunday signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, and sent to Nairametrics.

CPPE said while the reforms should be sustained, the government must continuously adjust their implementation based on evidence and their effects on businesses and households.

What the organisation is saying

CPPE said reversing the reforms would undermine investor confidence, weaken fiscal stability and destabilise the foreign exchange market.

• “CPPE believes that reversing the reforms would be profoundly damaging to the economy.”
• “It would undermine investor confidence, weaken fiscal stability, destabilise the foreign-exchange market and reintroduce distortions that the reforms were designed to correct.”
• “The reform trajectory should therefore be sustained, while implementation is continuously refined in response to emerging realities.”
• “The next phase must move decisively from stabilisation to productivity; from higher government revenues to better development outcomes; and from improving macroeconomic indicators to tangible gains in jobs, incomes and living standards.”

The group said reform instruments should be recalibrated as new evidence and implementation experience emerge, particularly where policies are placing pressure on businesses and households.

Get up to speed

The call comes amid concerns over how much of the fiscal space created by the reforms has been absorbed by government expenditure and debt servicing.

Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria incurred N10.61 trillion in additional debt-service costs between June 2023 and December 2025, about N4.14 trillion more than the N6.47 trillion spent on strategic infrastructure development during the same period.

The figures were contained in the Federal Government’s Nigeria’s Reform Scorecard: The Benefits, Costs and Harms Prevented, released by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

• Total incremental expenditure by the Federal Government stood at N30.64 trillion during the period.
• Wage adjustments accounted for N9.39 trillion, while external debt service stood at N9.37 trillion.
• Strategic infrastructure received N6.47 trillion, while electricity subsidy costs accounted for N3.14 trillion.
• Domestic debt service stood at N1.24 trillion, while social welfare transfers accounted for N423.80 billion.

When external and domestic debt-service costs are combined, debt servicing accounted for about 34.6% of the Federal Government’s incremental expenditure, making it the largest overall component, the scorecard noted.

The figures reflect some of the fiscal pressures associated with the reforms, including the impact of the naira’s depreciation following foreign exchange reforms and higher interest rates associated with monetary tightening.

What you should know

The CPPE’s position comes as the Federal Government continues to defend the reforms as necessary measures that created fiscal space and prevented a deeper deterioration in the country’s finances.

• Nairametrics earlier reported that the Federal Government borrowed N11.9 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025, although the government said borrowing would have been significantly higher without the fiscal space created by the reforms.
• Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the N11.9 trillion in incremental borrowing helped fund government expenditure during the period.
• He said the Federal Government’s incremental resources from subsidy savings, independent revenue and borrowing amounted to N20.4 trillion.

Oyedele said the resources contributed to funding incremental Federal Government expenditure of N30.64 trillion.