The Federal Government on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to building a $1 trillion economy, with the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, saying the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu has delivered “bold, courageous, tough but necessary choices” aimed at repositioning Nigeria’s economy.
Bagudu spoke at the Progressive Governors Forum–Renewed Hope Ambassadors Interactive Session with members of the diplomatic community in Abuja on May 10, 2026, where Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State declared that Nigeria had moved “from concern to genuine confidence” under the Tinubu administration.
Describing the meeting as timely, Bagudu said it strengthened engagement between federal and state governments and foreign missions in line with the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He identified the agenda’s core pillars as economic recovery, inclusive growth, improved governance, security resilience, sustainable development, democratic deepening and the rule of law.
Bagudu noted that the 2023 election was won on the basis of the Renewed Hope Agenda, which acknowledged that Nigeria “was not where we ought to be” and that “blame games do not deliver results.”
According to him, President Tinubu’s administration has, over the past three years, implemented key reforms that are already yielding results. He cited the removal of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange rationalisation as measures that significantly expanded federation revenues.
He disclosed that the Federation Account Allocation Committee distributed about ₦10.14 trillion in 2023, with monthly disbursements now ranging between ₦1.8 trillion and ₦2.6 trillion. States, he said, currently receive between ₦700 billion and ₦800 billion monthly, with February 2026 allocations reaching ₦784 billion, representing a 23 per cent year-on-year increase.
The minister added that savings from the reforms were funding over 440 ongoing road projects and 2,700 kilometres of superhighway construction nationwide. He also said the East-West Road was nearing completion, while rail modernisation and port digitisation projects were progressing steadily.
Bagudu told members of the diplomatic community that Nigeria’s push toward a $1 trillion economy presents opportunities for partnerships in infrastructure financing, investment promotion, skills development, climate-smart agriculture and data-driven planning.
“Ours is a federation, and our mandate makes us representatives of both the Federal Government and the states, ensuring that interventions are better tailored to local realities,” he said.
He thanked development partners for their support in humanitarian services, peacebuilding, education, healthcare, agriculture, renewable energy and climate action.
On democratic governance, Bagudu assured diplomats of the sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy, citing judicial independence in cases where courts ruled against the ruling APC in Zamfara, Kano and Plateau states.
“Mr President accepted the judgments and encouraged all of us to do the same,” he said.
The minister also recalled that European Union observers monitored the APC’s 2022 primaries at his invitation as evidence of transparency within the party. He added that more governors were joining the APC because “they believe Mr President has done the right thing.”
Speaking at the session, Uzodimma, who chairs the Progressive Governors’ Forum and serves as Director-General of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said diplomats who had served in Nigeria before May 2023 would recognise a significant shift in the country’s trajectory.
“In the past two and a half years, the tone of the periodic reports sent to your capitals must have gradually but unmistakably shifted from concern to cautious optimism, and, more recently, to genuine confidence,” he said.
Uzodimma clarified that the Renewed Hope Ambassadors were political ambassadors tasked with promoting the President’s agenda across states, local government areas and wards.
“The agenda seeks to renew the hope of Nigerians in their country by implementing a visionary leadership blueprint that turns the nation around from decay to prosperity,” he said.
The governor identified subsidy removal and the floating of the naira as the administration’s two most significant first-day reforms.
He described the former subsidy regime as “the single largest organised corruption pipeline in our public finances,” arguing that its removal eliminated over 60 per cent of high-impact federal corruption.
“Some leaders stop at giving speeches about fighting corruption, but President Tinubu shut down the biggest corruption avenue with the announcement of just one policy,” he said.
Uzodimma added that the reforms had improved state finances to the extent that governors no longer needed emergency federal bailouts to pay salaries.
“The era of state governors travelling to the Federal Capital to ask for emergency bailouts to pay basic salaries is over,” he said.
On infrastructure development, the Imo governor highlighted ongoing work on the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, noting that the first 47 kilometres had been opened to traffic in December 2025, while Sections One and Two were expected to be completed by December 2026.
He also cited progress on the 1,068-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, saying Section 2A in Kebbi State had reached 40 per cent completion, with 19 kilometres of concrete pavement, solar lighting and CCTV infrastructure already installed.
“This project was first conceived 45 years ago. It took a President with the resources and the will to make it real,” he said.
Uzodimma further referenced a ₦746 million-pound refurbishment of Lagos and Tin Can ports under the Nigeria-UK Strategic Partnership signed in March.
Defending the naira float, he said the policy ended decades of multiple exchange rates that encouraged arbitrage and corruption.
“Well-connected operators obtained dollars at the official rate for fictitious purposes and sold them on the parallel market,” he said.
According to him, the unification of exchange rates helped increase Nigeria’s external reserves from $32 billion in mid-2024 to $49.4 billion by March 2026, providing 13 months of import cover. He added that the foreign exchange premium had fallen below two per cent, remittances had risen to $600 million monthly, and the stock market had gained 55.7 per cent year-to-date to 242,277 points.
Uzodimma also said Nigeria had weathered global economic shocks effectively. Despite the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, he noted that inflation dropped from above 27 per cent to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, while the economy recorded 4.07 per cent GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2025.
He said the economy was now valued at ₦441.5 trillion, with the IMF projecting 4.1 per cent growth for Nigeria in 2026.
The governor added that 1.388 million students had benefited from ₦242.4 billion in interest-free loans, while recent tax reforms exempted workers earning ₦800,000 or less annually and small businesses with annual turnover below ₦100 million from taxation.
