.Youths critical to communicating Renewed Hope achievements – Yari
.As PBAT CEOs forum pledges support for President’s re-election
Ibrahim Quadri, News Editor with agency report
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, says Nigeria’s economy has stabilised.
Oyedele stated this on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents after the 158th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) in Abuja.
He, however, said the priority was now to transform economic stability into shared prosperity for Nigerians.
“Our real Gross Domestic Product growth rate was 3.89 per cent for Q1 of 2026, up from 3.13 per cent one year ago,” he said.
Oyedele projected that Nigeria’s GDP growth rate would exceed four per cent in 2026, reflecting continued improvement in economic activity.
He said inflation had also declined significantly, reaching 15.43 per cent at the end of July, compared with 24.94 per cent a year earlier.
According to him, Nigeria’s trade surplus nearly doubled from N17.7 trillion in 2025 to N34.7 trillion by the first quarter of 2026.
He said public debt remained moderate at 13.7 per cent of GDP, amounting to N159.28 trillion.
“Debt service as a percentage of revenue is on the decline, from nearly 100 per cent as of 2022 to less than 60 per cent as of 2025,” he said.
Oyedele said the economic progress was also reflected in improved assessments by international market rating agencies.
“This is also part of the recognition by the market rating agencies,” he said.
He said Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and S&P had all upgraded Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating between April 2025 and May 2026.
“The first coordinated alignment in over a decade. So, they all agree,” Oyedele said.
The minister said Nigeria also exited the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025.
He added that the country exited the European Union’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing deficiency list in January 2026.
According to him, the developments would reduce costs and friction associated with cross-border capital flows into Nigeria.
Oyedele also announced Nigeria’s reclassification from an unclassified market to a frontier market.
“Nigeria has now been reclassified to frontier market. This is good news for us as a country,” he said.
He said the reclassification presented opportunities for Nigeria to accelerate economic growth and lift more citizens out of poverty.
“We see opportunities ahead for the country, especially how we accelerate growth and lift our people out of poverty,” Oyedele said.
He said NEC identified agriculture, energy, manufacturing, mining and the digital economy as priority sectors for accelerated development.
Oyedele said 81.4 per cent of Nigerians worked in agriculture and non-tradable services, requiring greater attention to those sectors.
“Council deliberated that there is a need for us to accelerate growth in these sectors where the majority of our people work,” he said.
He said stronger growth in those sectors would help reduce poverty and narrow the inequality gap across the country.
“That way, we lift them out of poverty and we close the inequality gap,” Oyedele said.
The minister, however, acknowledged that significant challenges remained and required coordinated efforts from the government and other stakeholders.
“Key areas identified include geopolitical conflict, commodity shocks, persistent food inflation and the need to manage election cycle fiscal risk,” he said.
Oyedele also highlighted the need to address negative pre-election narratives and ensure economic perceptions remained supported by available data.
He said the government must focus on creating jobs while managing Nigeria’s vulnerability to foreign-exchange shocks.
“There is a tendency to be negative pre-election, even though it is not supported by data, to ensure there is job-rich growth,” he said.
He added that managing foreign-exchange vulnerability would remain essential to sustaining economic stability and translating current gains into broader prosperity.
Meanwhile, Director-General of the All Progressives Congresss, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Sen. Abdul’aziz Yari, says youths remain critical to communicating President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda across Nigeria.
A statement issued by Yari’s media office on Thursday said the former Zamfara governor stated this when he received Seyi Tinubu, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, and youth mobilisation advocates who visited him in Abuja.
Yari said that young Nigerians were not merely the country’s future but its present, adding that they remained vital to communicating government achievements effectively across communities.
“If we are going to tell the story of this administration’s achievements, our youths will carry that message farthest, fastest and most convincingly,” he said.
The director-general said his meeting with Seyi Tinubu focused on building bridges, noting that his commitment to youth empowerment represented the energy required by the campaign.
He said that the council was not Just asking young Nigerians to vote but also urging them to become ambassadors of the Renewed Hope story in their communities.
Yari disclosed that the council was finalising a nationwide youth outreach framework, using social media, community networks and grassroots structures to amplify achievements and counter misinformation.
“Every young Nigerian with a phone and a voice is a messenger. Our job is to equip them with platforms to communicate authentically,” he added.
The senator thanked Seyi Tinubu for the visit and commitment to youth empowerment, while acknowledging the minister’s partnership on youth engagement initiatives and grassroots mobilisation efforts nationwide.
Earlier, Seyi Tinubu said the visit was to congratulate him on his appointment as the campaign council director-general and to deepen collaboration between the council and youth-focused stakeholders ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The News Agency of Nigeria NAN reports that Seyi Tinubu was accompanied by members of his youth engagement team.
Also on Thursday, the Forum of President Bola Tinubu’s Chief Executive Officers (PBAT CEOs) pledged to mobilise support for the re-election of the president in 2027 and the sustenance of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The Convener of the forum and Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Dr Kazeem Raji, made the pledge at the forum’s maiden meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
The meeting had the theme: “Strengthening Collective Leadership, Mobilisation and Support for the Re-election of President Bola Tinubu and the Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Raji said the forum was established to bring together heads of Federal Government agencies appointed by Tinubu to support the administration’s programmes and contribute to national development.
He described Tinubu as a courageous reformer who had taken difficult decisions to address longstanding structural challenges in the country.
“The appointment of chief executives by Mr President is not merely a position of honour. It is a mandate to serve and contribute meaningfully to national development.
“President Bola Tinubu is a courageous reformer and visionary leader who has chosen to confront difficult and entrenched structural challenges rather than postpone them,” Raji said.
According to him, the administration has undertaken major reforms, including fuel subsidy removal, unification of the foreign exchange market, fiscal and tax reforms, power sector reforms, development finance initiatives and infrastructure expansion.
He also identified increased domestic refining capacity, expansion of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure, investments in education and housing, and interventions in agriculture, healthcare, technology, innovation, power and digital connectivity as some of the administration’s achievements.
“These achievements deserve to be communicated responsibly and clearly to Nigerians.
“The President has demonstrated that leadership is not merely about making popular decisions; it is also about making necessary decisions and having the courage to stay the course until the benefits become evident.”
Raji said the reforms required continuity to enable Nigerians fully benefit from them, stressing that long-term development programmes should not be repeatedly disrupted by political transitions.
“We cannot afford to repeatedly interrupt long-term national development programmes because of political transitions.
“Where policies are working, they should be strengthened. Where programmes are yielding results, they should be expanded. Where reforms require adjustment, they should be improved,” he said.
The convener described members of the forum as “foot soldiers” of the Renewed Hope Agenda, saying their duty was to translate the President’s vision into programmes, projects, services and opportunities for Nigerians.
Raji urged members to document the achievements of their respective agencies and make the public aware of their impact.
“Our responsibility is to translate presidential vision into programmes, projects, services, opportunities and tangible results.
“Our performance forms part of the administration’s scorecard. We must be able to show Nigerians what our agencies have achieved and the lives that have been touched,” he said.
He said the forum would promote coordination and collaboration among government agencies, while reducing duplication of efforts and ensuring that institutions remained aligned with the priorities of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“This forum is a strategic platform for collective leadership, coordination, peer engagement, experience-sharing, policy support, mobilisation and national service,” Raji said.
He said the forum would also support public understanding of government reforms, strengthen grassroots engagement and promote ethical, lawful and issue-based participation ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He urged members to use their professional networks and relationships across the states and local governments to explain government policies, correct misinformation and encourage informed civic participation.
“Our responsibility is not to compel anyone. It is to inform, engage, persuade through performance and present the facts about the progress being made,” he said.
He stressed that the forum’s mobilisation activities must respect the law and the choices of Nigerians.
“Such engagement must be conducted within the law and with integrity, discipline and respect for the choices of Nigerians,” he said.
Raji urged members to measure the impact of their agencies by identifying the number of beneficiaries of their programmes, jobs facilitated, investments attracted, innovations commercialised and infrastructure delivered.
“We must ask ourselves: How many Nigerians have benefited from our programmes? How many jobs have we facilitated? How much investment have we attracted? How many innovations have we commercialised and how much infrastructure have we delivered?” he said.
He called for a forum based on professionalism and constructive support for the administration.
“We must build unity without uniformity, loyalty without sycophancy, support without compromising professionalism, and political participation without abandoning the principles of public service,” he said.
Raji said the forum’s central message was that “one good term deserves another,” arguing that the benefits of reforms could only be fully realised through consistency and continuity.
He urged members to support one another, identify areas of collaboration and communicate the administration’s achievements based on verifiable facts.
Raji said the maiden meeting marked the beginning of collective leadership, strategic collaboration and responsible mobilisation in support of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He expressed confidence that the forum would contribute to consolidating the gains of the administration and support Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 through lawful, peaceful, ethical, issue-based and grassroots-oriented engagement.
He urged members to justify the confidence reposed in them by the President through performance, competence, courage, loyalty and integrity.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the forum comprises chief executive officers, directors-general, managing directors, executive vice-chairmen and heads of Federal Government agencies.
They include Aliyu Abdullah, Managing Director of the Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority; George Olumoroti, Managing Director/CEO of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA); and Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, Managing Director/CEO of the Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority (NDRBDA).
Others are Dr Ronke Soyombo, Registrar/CEO of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), and Dr Mahmud Mohammed, Managing Director/CEO of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority.
The list also includes Dr Olushola Odusanya, CEO of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), and Dr Kayode Opeifa, Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, among others.
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