Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Federal Government of dressing economic decline in bigger naira figures, declaring that the much-celebrated FAAC “boom” is a monetary illusion that collapses once the figures are tested against currency depreciation, inflation, purchasing power and the mounting liabilities of state governments.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Nigerians should not be deceived by the spectacle of trillions being announced every month when the naira in which those trillions are denominated has lost enormous value and ordinary citizens are paying substantially more for virtually everything.

“The arithmetic is brutal. In 2019, FAAC distribution was approximately ₦7.85 trillion, worth about $25.6 billion at the prevailing exchange rate. By 2025, FAAC had risen on paper to approximately ₦21.9 trillion, yet its dollar value had fallen to roughly $14.6 billion. So while government parades almost three times as many naira, the underlying dollar value is more than 40 per cent lower.

“That is not an economic miracle. That is money illusion. You cannot batter the currency, allow inflation to ravage purchasing power and then wave bigger naira figures before Nigerians as evidence that the country has become richer. Bigger numbers do not cancel smaller value.”

Atiku said the deception becomes even clearer when translated into the everyday experience of the Nigerian worker, where salaries may have increased nominally while their real value and purchasing power have deteriorated.

“Take the minimum wage as the simplest example. In 2019, ₦30,000 was worth roughly $83. By May 2023, that same ₦30,000 was worth about $65. Today, government boasts that the minimum wage has more than doubled to ₦70,000, yet at an exchange rate of around ₦1,320 to the dollar, that ₦70,000 is worth only about $53. Think about that: the number written on the worker’s payslip has risen from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000, but its dollar value has fallen from about $83 to about $53.

“That is Tinubu’s money illusion in its simplest form. The figure in your hand is bigger, but the value in your pocket is smaller. A worker can earn more naira today and still afford less food, less transport, less electricity, less medicine and less housing than before. Government counts the naira but conveniently refuses to count what the naira can buy.”

Atiku said the proper test of an economy is therefore not the size of the figures announced after FAAC meetings, but what those allocations can actually purchase and what obligations they are capable of meeting.

“If FAAC is truly booming, then where is the boom? Where is it in the price of food? Where is it in transport? Where is it in electricity, healthcare, housing and jobs? Where is it in the purchasing power of salaries? Government cannot become richer on paper while the people become poorer in reality and then expect Nigerians to applaud the contradiction.”

He said the contradiction becomes even more glaring when the debts still carried by states are placed beside claims of unprecedented revenue.

“And here is another question the FAAC cheerleaders must answer: if the states are swimming in unprecedented revenues, why are they still drowning in debt? A September 2026 report based on Debt Management Office data shows that just 12 states whose governors are approaching the end of their tenures carry a combined debt burden of approximately ₦5.3 trillion, comprising ₦2.16 trillion in domestic debt and about $2.33 billion in foreign obligations.

“So spare Nigerians the victory parade. You cannot boast endlessly about unprecedented FAAC allocations while states remain heavily indebted, pension and gratuity obligations persist, contractors chase payments and governments continue to carry enormous liabilities. If the money is as unprecedented as we are constantly told, Nigerians have every right to ask the most elementary question: where has the money gone?

“What is the purpose of a revenue boom if liabilities remain enormous? What is the meaning of record allocations if governments continue borrowing and citizens cannot see a corresponding improvement in their standard of living? Revenue is not an achievement merely because it enters a government account. The achievement is what that revenue buys, what debts it settles, what infrastructure it delivers and how much better it makes the lives of the people.”

Atiku said the administration must also stop pretending that fiscal discipline begins only when ordinary Nigerians require relief, insisting that government expenditure, tax concessions, import waivers, revenue exemptions, duplicated projects, abandoned projects and other areas of potential waste must be subjected to the same scrutiny.

The Nigerian Army has launched another major realignment of its senior command structure. The new redeployment involves movement of generals across frontline operations, formations, training institutions and strategic departments.

Also, a new commander was appointed to lead the military’s campaign against insurgents in the North-East.

At the centre of the latest changes is Major General IA Ajose, who has been transferred from the Army Headquarters Department of Army Operations to take charge of the Joint Task Force North-East, Operation HADIN KAI.

The operation is one of the Army’s most critical operational theatres.

Ajose’s appointment places him at the head of the command responsible for military operations against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the North-East.

The redeployment was approved by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, as part of efforts to strengthen operational effectiveness and adjust its leadership structure to the country’s changing security environment, the army said.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Appolonia Anele, said the latest exercise was designed to place the appropriate “leadership, experience and expertise” in critical operational and strategic positions.

Ajose replaces Major General AE Abubakar, who has been moved out of Operation HADIN KAI to the Nigerian Army Heritage and Future Centre.

There, he would serve as Dean of the Faculty of Operational Research.

The changes extend beyond the North-East, with the Army also moving senior officers between command, training, civil-military, logistics, financial and administrative establishments.

Major General AM Alechenu is moving from the Defence Headquarters Garrison to the Nigerian Army Heritage and Future Centre, while Major General RT Utsaha leaves the Army Headquarters Department of Army Standards and Evaluation for the Defence Headquarters Garrison as Commander.

Major General AM Umar has been appointed Commandant of the Army War College Nigeria, replacing Major General UM Alkali, who is moving from the college to the Department of Civil-Military Affairs.

Major General GS Muhammed is also leaving the Office of the National Security Adviser for the Nigerian Army Finance Corporation as Director General.

His successor at the Military Pension Board will be Major General JE Osifo, who moves from the Nigerian Army Finance Corporation to become Chairman of the board.

The latest postings also affect the Army’s logistics structure, with Major General IE Ekpenyong moving to the Defence Headquarters Department of Defence Logistics as Director of Engineering Services.

At the brigadier general level, Brigadier General AA Bello is moving from 6 Division Garrison and Sector 3, Joint Task Force South-South, Operation DELTA SAFE, to the Defence Headquarters Department of Defence Operations.

Brigadier General MS Adamu has been appointed Commander of the newly established 8 Brigade after leaving the Nigerian Army Women Command, while Brigadier General MS Sule moves from Special Task Force Operation ENDURING PEACE to command 27 Task Force Brigade.

Brigadier General I Sule is also leaving the Directorate of Recruitment Management for 6 Division Garrison as Commander.

The reshuffle further moves Brigadier General E Azenda from the Land Forces Simulation Centre to command 2 Division Garrison, with Brigadier General AS Bugaje taking over at the simulation centre as Director of Administration.

Shaibu charged the newly appointed commanders and senior officers to justify the confidence placed in them through “exemplary leadership, operational innovation, professionalism and unwavering commitment to duty.”

He also directed them to remain focused on the Army’s constitutional responsibilities of defending Nigeria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while supporting civil authorities in maintaining peace and security.

The latest redeployment is coming less than a year after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered a sweeping change in the country’s military leadership, appointing Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu as Chief of Army Staff in October 2025.

Shaibu assumed office on November 5, 2025, as the 25th Chief of Army Staff, succeeding Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, who was elevated to Chief of Defence Staff.

The change at the top of the Army coincided with mounting pressure on the military to improve its response to multiple security threats.

The North-East remained the centre of the Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province insurgency, while banditry and kidnapping expanded across parts of the North-West and North-Central, including areas previously considered less exposed to sustained terrorist activity.

The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, has urged motorists to exercise patience and cooperate with traffic officials as two-week repair works on the Kara Bridge have triggered heavy gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leaving motorists stranded for several hours.

In a statement , by its spokesperson, Babatunde Akinbiyi, the agency said it anticipated that there would be traffic, hence, the reason it issued a traffic advisory earlier.

“We can only appeal to motorists to bear with us for the time being because the repair works are necessary to ensure smooth movement and the safety of road users along the corridor.

“Anyone who does not have an important business along the axis should stay away, and those who cannot avoid using that route should cooperate with traffic officials.” the statement said.

The two-week rehabilitation, directed by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, involves replacing deteriorating expansion joints to improve road safety and the structural integrity of the bridge.

The project is expected to run until September 22, 2026.

The Federal Government began the replacement of damaged expansion joints on the bridge on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, after the project was earlier suspended to allow for traffic management planning.

The repairs have caused severe congestion along the corridor, with the gridlock stretching from the Kara Bridge in Ogun State to the 7Up Junction in Lagos State and beyond.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the traffic had extended beyond the Secretariat Bus Stop, while motorists coming from Ikeja and Agege and heading towards the Otedola underpass were also caught in the congestion stretching beyond Otunba Jobi Fele Way.

Many commuters also took to social media to share videos and images of the gridlock, saying they spent several hours travelling from their workplaces to their homes.

By Wednesday morning, motorists were seen using one-way traffic routes to get passengers to their destinations as the congestion persisted.

Traffic and security officials, including the police, military, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Federal Road Safety Corps and Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, were deployed to manage the situation.