President Bola Tinubu says the economic reforms introduced by his administration are beginning to work despite the challenges faced by many Nigerians, arguing that the policies have laid a foundation for growth and improved fiscal stability.
The President spoke on Wednesday while receiving a delegation from Deloitte Africa, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Ruwayda Redfearn, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Tinubu said the administration’s reforms, though difficult, were beginning to yield results across key sectors of the economy.
“The reforms on revenue will continue to stimulate growth. And the effect of the reform? Yes, some issues are difficult to take, the bitter medicine, but it is working well. For the economy, Nigeria is making serious foundational progress,” the President said.
According to him, the reforms have strengthened Nigeria’s fiscal and revenue systems, repositioned financial institutions and improved the country’s competitiveness in the global economy.
“The reforms had steadily stabilised the economy over three years, with growing recognition for positive development and growth indicators,” he added.
Tinubu described the reform agenda as one focused on building lasting institutions rather than pursuing short-term gains.
“We are following the example of Deloitte’s greatness to change things from the foundation, building the necessary future for our people. Yes, reforms are difficult. It has not been a McDonald’s customer relationship but a harvester of good things, if implemented well, and that is what we are about.”
The President thanked Deloitte Africa for acknowledging the government’s reform efforts and urged the firm to deepen its partnership with Nigeria by investing in youth development, skills acquisition and employment generation.
He noted that Nigeria’s young population presents enormous opportunities and called on the global professional services firm to expand its training and recruitment initiatives in the country.
“The family of Deloitte, you just reminded me of my cradle years in accountancy and where I cut my childhood accounting teeth in Chicago. Deloitte has a good training programme, and I believe you will continue to reflect that.”
Tinubu also stressed the need to ensure that the benefits of economic reforms translate into improved living standards for ordinary Nigerians.
“Where we are at the moment, we believe that the ground has been solidly laid. There is a need to truly extract more value and deliver the dividends of democracy to ordinary Nigerians on the street. The bigger work is really about how to cascade some of those big reforms further down.”
Deloitte backs reform agenda
Earlier, Deloitte Africa CEO Ruwayda Redfearn commended the Tinubu administration for pursuing what she described as significant fiscal and financial reforms, saying the firm was ready to support Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda.
She said Deloitte’s global expertise in digital transformation, business advisory and public sector reform could help accelerate the country’s development objectives.
“Deloitte is primarily focused on digital and business transformation,” she said, noting that the organisation has more than 500,000 employees globally, including over 6,000 across Africa, and generated $74 billion in revenue in 2025.
Redfearn said the firm was prepared to deploy both its local and international capabilities in support of Nigeria’s development priorities.
“We are before you to say that we want to serve. We have a local team on the ground that is ready, as well as the global firm, to support you and support your administration as you lead the country.”
She added that Deloitte’s experience supporting governments around the world would be valuable to Nigeria.
“We do believe that with the capabilities that the firm has all over the world, with the half a million people that our CEO spoke about, we have use cases, examples and experiences of how we supported nations all around the world, so Nigeria will definitely benefit from those experiences.
The Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte West Africa, Yomi Olugbenro, also reaffirmed the firm’s commitment to supporting the administration’s reform programme, particularly in areas that promote investment, innovation and capacity development for Nigeria’s youth.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun (referred to in the release as Taiwo Oyedele), and the Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.
