By Omedele Adigun
President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria has already met its revenue target for 2025 in August affirming that the country’s economy is now stable, resilient, and less vulnerable to external shocks, regardless of what global actors like US President Donald Trump may do.
The President made this known while receiving a delegation of former members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday.
He also emphasised that the revenue is from non-oil products.
“Today, I can stand here before you to brag — Nigeria is not borrowing. We have met our revenue target for the year and we met it in August. Let Trump do his worst, we are stable,” Tinubu said.
He attributed this progress to improved non-oil revenue performance, asserting that Nigeria now has no reason to fear international economic developments, citing robust mechanisms already in place to keep the nation on course.
“If non-oil revenue is going well, then we have no fear of whatever Trump is doing on the other side,” Tinubu stated.
According to him, when he took over, the exchange rate had ballooned to N1,900 to the US dollar. But thanks to reforms and fiscal discipline, the rate has stabilised around N1,450, without the need for elite-level backchannel connections to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“Nobody is trading pieces of paper for exchange rate anymore. You don’t have to know the CBN governor to get forex. All you have to do is export, import, and create jobs for the people,” he said.
Tinubu noted that his administration was focused on “fixing the economy” and “bringing hope to the people,” describing agriculture as the backbone of Nigeria’s long-term food security plan.
He revealed that he had just signed off on a major agricultural mechanisation programme that will be deployed in every region, complete with training centres and support infrastructure.
“We are doing mechanisation and training — that is our backbone: food sovereignty, food security. If we remove hunger, we have defeated poverty,” he said.
Addressing the CPC bloc of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) directly, the President assured them of his continued commitment to their shared ideals, while acknowledging the delays in political appointments.
He noted that ambassadorial positions were still available but insisted that fixing the economy was his primary focus.
“I couldn’t appoint everybody at once, and thank you for your patience. I still have some slots for ambassadorial positions that so many people are craving for. But it’s not easy stitching those names,” he said.
Tinubu spoke warmly of his long-standing political relationships with the CPC bloc, recalling the early days of the merger talks leading to the formation of APC.
“You brought back the memory of the beginning of the alliance. When we sat down to fashion out which way. We disagreed to agree. We even argued on symbol — he [Buhari] insisted on parliament, and I insisted on broom. He’s so stubborn,” Tinubu jocularly said.
Reflecting on his commitment to building on the legacies of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu praised the virtues of honesty, justice, and discipline that he said he inherited from his predecessor.
“Part of what we inherited from Buhari was his honesty, transparency, justice. That’s all. You won’t have anything less than that,” he said.
The President also commended the unity and loyalty of CPC stakeholders, stating that their solidarity strengthens his resolve to work even harder.
“When I see people like you, my determination is to work harder. We are certain we are going to succeed,” Tinubu said, promising to build a ‘Buhari House’ that would serve as a symbol of joy and prosperity in honour of the late President.
