Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the Federal Government over the reversal in Nigeria’s agricultural trade balance, saying the country is losing export earnings while farmers and manufacturers struggle with insecurity and high production costs.
Atiku said the value of Nigeria’s agricultural trade moved from a ₦740.27bn surplus in the first half of 2025 to a ₦56.13bn deficit in the corresponding period of 2026, representing a ₦796.40bn reversal.
He attributed the development to what he described as failures in the government’s agricultural and industrial policies, arguing that Nigeria was exporting raw agricultural commodities without capturing enough of the value generated through processing.
Atiku’s position was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Phrank Shaibu.
The National Bureau of Statistics publishes quarterly foreign trade data, including agricultural exports and imports. Its 2026 foreign trade statistics reports are available through its official data portal.
Atiku said the reported figures showed that agricultural exports declined by 33.3 per cent during the period, while imports also fell, but at a slower rate.
“Tinubu cannot call this reform when the people who grow our food and the businesses that should process it are being squeezed from both sides,” he said.
According to him, the government could not attribute the deterioration simply to increased imports, since the more significant concern was the decline in what Nigeria was earning from agricultural exports.
“The excuse that Nigerians simply imported too much will not stand. Tinubu’s government must answer for the collapse in what Nigeria sold to the world. The country is losing export earnings, and the President owes farmers, workers and businesses more than another speech about prosperity,” Atiku said.
He listed insecurity, high production costs and inadequate conditions for domestic processing among the challenges confronting farmers and manufacturers.
“What has his administration done to make it safer to farm, cheaper to move produce, easier to keep a processing plant running or more profitable to sell a finished Nigerian product? Farmers cannot cultivate promises. Manufacturers cannot power factories with speeches,” he said.
Nigeria’s agricultural exports have continued to include commodities such as cocoa beans, cashew nuts and sesame seeds. NBS data have previously shown cocoa and cashew among the country’s major agricultural export products.
The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate argued that the continued export of largely unprocessed commodities meant Nigeria was losing opportunities to create jobs and retain more value domestically.
“We grow the crop. Someone else does more of the processing, builds a business around it and earns the larger return. Then Tinubu speaks of jobs while Nigerian factories struggle to compete,” he said.
He acknowledged that the agricultural trade balance alone could not explain every challenge facing the sector but said the government should take responsibility for policies implemented during its tenure.
“A trade deficit alone does not explain every problem on our farms. But after more than three years in office, the President owns the decisions that have left farmers exposed and producers burdened,” Atiku said.
The ADC presidential candidate also linked his criticism of the agricultural sector to his proposed production subsidy for petroleum products refined locally.
Under the proposal, he said, qualifying products refined in Nigeria, including those produced by modular refineries, would receive support, while imported products would not qualify.
He said the subsidy would be capped, budgeted and independently audited, with mechanisms to determine whether savings were passed on to consumers and businesses.
Atiku also criticised the Federal Government’s compressed natural gas initiative, arguing that the cost and availability of conversion kits had limited its benefits to many Nigerians.
“Local refining is about more than the price at the petrol pump. Aviation fuel affects fares. LPG affects the cost of cooking. Petroleum products and feedstocks affect industries and the people they employ,” he said.
He promised that an ADC administration would pursue policies aimed at increasing domestic production and processing across the agricultural and energy sectors.
“My administration will begin restoring a transparent production subsidy from Day One. We will back farmers and processors with the same determination. Grow it here. Process it here. Refine it here. Create the jobs here. Make life affordable here,” he said.
Atiku further accused the Tinubu-led government of leaving Nigeria overly dependent on the export of raw commodities and crude oil while consumers continued to bear the cost of finished products.
The Federal Government has, however, maintained that its economic reforms are intended to strengthen domestic production, attract investment and create the conditions for sustainable growth.
The latest NBS data also show that Nigeria’s real GDP grew by 3.89 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, while manufacturing grew by 3.29 per cent in real terms during the same period.
Atiku nevertheless maintained that the agricultural trade figures should prompt the government to review its policies and provide stronger support for farmers, processors and manufacturers.
