The Presidency has dismissed suggestions that President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, poses a political threat to President Bola Tinubu or the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking during an appearance on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines with Nifemi Oguntoye, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated:
“As a politician, I don’t consider Dr. Akinwumi a threat to this president or to our political party [All Progressives Congress],”
“I don’t think he is a political threat. I said I was surprised that he made what I would consider as a non sequitur kind of argument or kind of conclusion.
“In Latin, you say it doesn’t follow; that, because GDP has fallen in 2025 so it means per capita income has fallen in 2025 does not mean that life, necessarily, was better in 1960 than now. That was the point I was making.
“I also said that as a politician, I don’t consider Dr Akinwumi a threat to this president or to our political party.”
Onanuga was responding to comments made by Adesina on May 2 at a policy forum in Abuja. There, Adesina claimed Nigeria’s GDP per capita had plummeted from $1,847 in 1960 to about $824 in 2025, stating, “Nigerians are now significantly worse off than they were 64 years ago.”
According to him, the drastic fall in income per head reflects the “depth of poverty and low human-development outcomes” that Nigeria must urgently address to benefit from its demographic potential.
However, the presidency countered his position, accusing the AfDB chief of relying on flawed statistics. It cited World Bank records, which pegged Nigeria’s GDP per capita at just $93 in 1960—not $1,847—arguing that any direct comparison using such inflated figures was misleading.
In an earlier written response, Onanuga emphasized, “Adesina should know that GDP per capita is not the only criterion used to determine whether people live better lives.”
He further stressed that progress should also be measured in terms of infrastructure, education, and healthcare, “The Tinubu administration is expanding rail, roads and social programmes that did not exist in 1960 and therefore cannot be captured by a single income metric.”
Onanuga concluded by stating, “Adjusted for purchasing power and quality‑of‑life indicators, Nigerians are certainly not worse off than at independence.”
