Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying they have improved the fortunes of wealthy Nigerians while worsening living conditions for millions of low-income earners.
Peterside made the remarks during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, arguing that the benefits of the reforms have not been evenly distributed across different income groups.
He said while upper-middle-class Nigerians with substantial savings and investments had recorded gains, particularly in the stock market, low-income households were struggling to afford basic necessities and meet their daily expenses.
“If you’re upper middle class, I can probably show on the blackboard investments in the stock exchange and all that stuff. I can show on the blackboard that you’re probably better off in the last three years,” he said.
“But if you’re a low-income worker, like somebody without much savings and struggling to eat — what 100 million Nigerians have to do, to eat two meals a day and struggling to pay your bills — I can show you that you’re a lot worse off.”
The economist faulted the Federal Government for failing to establish adequate social safety nets to cushion vulnerable Nigerians against the hardship associated with the reforms.
Citing 2025 data from TheCable Index, Peterside identified the North-West, North-East, North-Central and South-South as regions with high concentrations of poverty.
He said only about 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory had poverty rates below 50 per cent, with most of the states concentrated in the South-West, alongside Anambra, Edo and Delta.
Peterside also suggested that policymakers might not fully appreciate the severity of poverty in some communities because they do not frequently visit the affected areas.
He maintained that the absence of adequate social protection remained a major gap in the implementation of the government’s economic reforms.
