CPPE warns reforms reversal could hurt economy, urges jobs

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned that reversing Nigeria’s economic reforms could undermine investor confidence and fiscal stability, but urged the Federal Government to move beyond macroeconomic stabilisation and focus on jobs, productivity, incomes and living standards.

In a statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, CPPE said the reform trajectory should be sustained while implementation is continuously adjusted in response to evidence and its impact on businesses and households.

“CPPE believes that reversing the reforms would be profoundly damaging to the economy,” the organisation said.

It warned that a reversal could weaken fiscal stability, destabilise the foreign exchange market and reintroduce distortions the reforms were intended to eliminate.

“The next phase must move decisively from stabilisation to productivity; from higher government revenues to better development outcomes; and from improving macroeconomic indicators to tangible gains in jobs, incomes and living standards,” CPPE said.

The organisation’s position comes amid growing debate over whether the fiscal gains created by the reforms are translating into stronger economic outcomes for households and businesses.

Figures in the Federal Government’s Nigeria’s Reform Scorecard: The Benefits, Costs and Harms Prevented showed that total incremental Federal Government expenditure reached N30.64 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025.

Of this amount, N10.61 trillion went to additional debt-service costs, including N9.37 trillion in external debt service and N1.24 trillion in domestic debt service.

Combined debt servicing accounted for about 34.6 per cent of incremental Federal Government expenditure, making it the largest expenditure component during the period.

Strategic infrastructure received N6.47 trillion, while wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances for public servants accounted for N9.39 trillion.

Electricity subsidy costs stood at N3.14 trillion, while social welfare transfers accounted for N423.80 billion.

The figures highlight the fiscal pressures that accompanied the reforms, including the effect of naira depreciation on foreign-currency debt obligations and higher interest rates on domestic borrowing costs.

The Federal Government has continued to defend the reforms as necessary to create fiscal space and prevent a deeper deterioration of public finances.

Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, earlier said the government borrowed N11.9 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025, but argued that borrowing would have been significantly higher without the fiscal space created by the reforms.

He said the Federal Government’s incremental resources from subsidy savings, independent revenue and borrowing amounted to N20.4 trillion, compared with incremental expenditure of N30.64 trillion.

Oyedele also said petrol subsidy savings generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation, of which N5.43 trillion represented the Federal Government’s share.

CPPE nevertheless said the next phase of reform should focus more directly on productivity and household welfare.

The group said policy instruments should be recalibrated where implementation is placing excessive pressure on businesses and consumers, rather than abandoning the broader reform direction.

For the private sector, the key issue is whether lower inflation, improved fiscal stability and greater foreign exchange transparency can eventually translate into lower operating costs, stronger investment, more jobs and higher household incomes.

CPPE’s warning therefore puts the emphasis on the second phase of Nigeria’s reform agenda: preserving the gains in macroeconomic stability while ensuring that those gains begin to produce measurable improvements in productivity, employment and living standards.