CYRIL MBAH, Abuja
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, on Monday, told members of the diplomatic community that Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Agenda has steadily delivered “bold, courageous, tough but necessary choices” to reposition the economy.
At the same gathering, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State said the country has shifted “from concern to genuine confidence” under President Bola Tinubu.
The duo spoke at the Progressive Governors Forum–Renewed Hope Ambassadors Interactive Session with members of the Diplomatic Community in Abuja on May 10, 2026.
Bagudu described the gathering as timely, saying it deepens engagement between the federal and state governments and foreign missions.
“This engagement is in tandem with the mandate of our ministry and is timely, particularly as Nigeria continues to advance the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Bagudu said.
He listed its pillars as economic recovery, inclusive growth, improved governance, security resilience, sustainable development, democratic deepening, and the rule of law.
Bagudu thanked development partners for their collaboration in humanitarian support, peace building, education, healthcare, agriculture, renewable energy, and climate action.
He said Nigeria’s march towards a $1 trillion economy opens state-level opportunities in infrastructure financing, investment promotion, skills development, climate-smart agriculture, and data-driven planning.
“Ours is a federation, and our mandate makes us representatives of both the Federal Government and the states, ensuring that interventions are better tailored to local realities,” he told ambassadors.
The minister said the 2023 election was won on the Renewed Hope Agenda, which acknowledged that Nigeria “was not where we ought to be” and that “blame games do not deliver results.”
In the last three years, he said, President Tinubu has led implementation with outstanding results to be outlined by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors.
Bagudu noted that subsidy removal and FX rationalisation expanded federation revenues. FAAC distributed about ₦10.14 trillion in 2023, with monthly disbursements now between ₦1.8 trillion and ₦2.6 trillion. States received ₦700–₦800 billion monthly, with February 2026 at ₦784 billion, up 23% year-on-year.
Bagudu said freed resources are enabling over 440 ongoing road projects and 2,700km of super highway construction nationwide.
He added that the East-West Road is finally being completed, while rail modernisation and port digitisation are advancing.
He assured diplomats of democratic sustainability, citing independent courts that ruled against the APC in Zamfara, Kano and Plateau. “Mr President accepted the judgments and encouraged all of us to do the same,” he said.
The minister recalled that EU observers monitored the APC’s 2022 primaries at his invitation, underscoring transparency and also stated that more governors are joining APC because “they believe Mr. President has done the right thing.”
On his part, Governor Uzodimma, who is also the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and the Director-General of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said diplomats who served long in Nigeria would recall a country “in a significantly different shape” before May 2023.
“In the past two and a half years, the tone of the periodic reports sent to your capitals must have gradually but unmistakably shifted from concern to cautious optimism, and, more recently, to genuine confidence,” he said.
Uzodimma clarified that the Renewed Hope Ambassadors are not foreign-service diplomats but political ambassadors of the President’s agenda to every state, LGA and ward.
“The agenda seeks to renew the hope of Nigerians in their country by implementing a visionary leadership blueprint that turns the nation around from decay to prosperity,” he explained.
He anchored Nigeria’s turnaround on two first-day reforms: petroleum subsidy removal and floating of the naira.
Uzodimma called the subsidy regime “the single largest organised corruption pipeline in our public finances,” saying its removal eliminated over 60% of high-impact federal corruption. “Some leaders stop at giving speeches about fighting corruption, but President Tinubu shut down the biggest corruption avenue with the announcement of just one policy,” he said.
“The era of state governors travelling to the Federal Capital to ask for emergency bailouts to pay basic salaries is over,” Uzodimma told the envoys.
On infrastructure, Uzodimma listed the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, with the first 47km opened to traffic in December 2025 and full Sections One and Two due by December 2026.
He also cited the 1,068km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, now at 40% completion in Kebbi’s Section 2A, with 19km of concrete pavement, solar lighting and CCTV in place. “This project was first conceived 45 years ago… It took a President with the resources and the will to make it real,” he said.
Uzodimma noted a ₦746-million-pound refurbishment of Lagos and Tin Can ports under the Nigeria-UK Strategic Partnership signed in March.
On the naira float, Uzodimma said it ended decades of multiple exchange rates that bred arbitrage.
“Well-connected operators obtained dollars at the official rate for fictitious purposes and sold them on the parallel market,” he said. With unification, reserves rose from $32 billion in mid-2024 to $49.4 billion by March 2026, giving 13 months import cover. The FX premium fell below 2%, remittances rose to $600 million monthly, and the stock market gained 55.7% year-to-date to 242,277 points.
Uzodimma said Nigeria absorbed global shocks well. Despite the Strait of Hormuz closure, inflation fell from above 27% to 15.06% in February 2026, while Q4 2025 GDP grew 4.07%. The economy is now valued at ₦441.5 trillion, with IMF projecting 4.1% growth for 2026. He added that 1.388 million students have received ₦242.4 billion in interest-free loans, and tax reforms have exempted workers earning ₦800,000 or less and small firms with a turnover of under ₦ 100 million.
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