A policy group, the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), has claimed that Nigeria spent about $388 billion defending the naira between 2000 and 2023, describing the expenditure as unsustainable despite the continued depreciation of the local currency.
In a policy statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Omoniyi Akinsiju, the group said the decision by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to unify the country’s multiple foreign exchange windows has significantly reduced the cost of defending the naira and improved stability in the foreign exchange market.
According to IMPI, the Federal Government spent an average of $16.8 billion annually over the 23-year period defending the currency.
The group said the Olusegun Obasanjo administration spent about $60 billion over eight years, the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration $58 billion in three years, the Goodluck Jonathan administration $145 billion in five years, while the Muhammadu Buhari administration spent $125 billion over eight years.
It argued that despite the huge interventions, the naira continued to weaken, falling from about ₦22 to the dollar in 1999 to ₦460 at the official market by May 2023, while the parallel market rate moved from about ₦80 to ₦780 within the same period.
The think tank maintained that the Tinubu administration adopted a more effective foreign exchange management strategy through the harmonisation of exchange rate windows.
It said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened with about $7.8 billion in the foreign exchange market between 2024 and 2025, adding that the naira appreciated by 7.14 per cent over a 12-month period in 2025.
IMPI also credited the administration’s foreign exchange reforms and the “Nigeria First” local content policy with reducing import dependence, boosting local manufacturing and contributing to what it described as an export surplus economy.
According to the group, the reforms resulted in a trade surplus of more than ₦6.69 trillion by the end of 2025.
The policy group further linked Nigeria’s fiscal challenges before 2023 to what it described as populist economic policies pursued by successive administrations between 1999 and 2015.
It said its investigation showed that despite earning approximately $994.4 billion in oil and gas revenues during the administrations of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan, the governments left behind a combined external and domestic debt of about $65.49 billion and foreign reserves of $29.61 billion.
IMPI argued that the large revenues generated during the period were not translated into sustainable economic growth, describing the outcome as a missed opportunity for national development.
