Economic reforms worsened poverty, favoured the rich – Peterside

Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Atedo Peterside, has insisted that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms have benefited wealthy Nigerians while worsening the financial conditions of low-income households.

He spoke while appearing on Arise News TV.

According to him, the administration’s fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms have produced contrasting outcomes for different income groups.

Peterside stated that while wealthy Nigerians with investments in financial markets have recorded improved returns, ordinary workers continue to struggle with rising living costs and declining purchasing power.

“The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer,” Peterside said.

The economist said that the success of the government’s economic reforms should be assessed not only through macroeconomic indicators but also through their impact on household welfare.

Peterside explained that Nigerians with substantial investments in the stock market are more likely to have benefited from the reforms than workers who depend primarily on salaries.

“If you ask a rich man, he’ll tell you it’s working because he is getting richer. In fact, if you ask a very rich man, he’ll tell you the reforms are fantastic,” he said.

He said his own investment income had increased but maintained that improvements in the financial circumstances of wealthy Nigerians did not necessarily reflect the broader economic reality.

“My concern is for the 140, 130 million Nigerians who are poor, who are getting poorer effectively,” Peterside said.

He attributed the widening economic disparity partly to the government’s failure to introduce adequate social protection measures alongside its reforms.

He said approximately 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory recorded poverty rates below 50%, with many of those states concentrated in the Southwest.

He identified the Northwest, Northeast, North Central and South-South as regions experiencing particularly high poverty levels.

Peterside argued that policymakers who spend most of their time in relatively prosperous cities such as Lagos and Abuja may underestimate the severity of hardship in other parts of the country.

He maintained that the effectiveness of economic reforms ultimately depends on whether they improve living standards across income groups and regions.