By Lawal Nasir
(A response to the editorial of The Cable of Monday, October 2025)
When newspapers write editorials, they are merely voicing their opinion, which, like individuals, they are entitled to.However, unlike individuals, newspapers expect the government or whichever entity is involved to act on that opinion, believing that they are acting on behalf of the people.
This must have been the reason behind the editorial of The Cabal newspaper of Monday, October 20, 2025, titled “Inflation Figures That Insult Reality.” The said editorial attacked the inflation figures recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), describing the report as political.
For those who may have missed the gist, a brief recap is necessary.
According to a news report by Reuters, which was also published virtually all Nigerian newspapers and news platforms, the NBS, in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report for September 2025, said Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 18.02 per cent in September 2025.
It also noted that headline inflation showed a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to the 20.12 per cent recorded in August 2025, adding that on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate stood at 14.68 per cent lower than the rate recorded in September 2024 at 32.70 per cent.
While it is not a crime to disagree with the figures of the NBS, it is unfair to dismiss them with the wave of the hand without giving contrasting numbers. No matter what anyone will say, the NBS has made public its figures.
Those who do not agree can equally bring forth theirs. But it will be overly simplistic to just dismiss the numbers without telling the public what the true figures should be.
However, going through the editorial of The Cable, it is easily discernible that they are considering two different things to be one and the same. For instance, they argue that “there is hardly any evidence—empirical or experiential—that supports the NBS’s reported decline in inflation. If inflation has indeed moderated, then it must be a statistical illusion. For millions of Nigerians, this so-called relief exists only on paper.”
But a drop in inflation is not the same as a rise in purchasing power, as The Cabal’s editorial seems to be suggesting. In fact, thinking along this line is the same as expecting everybody to be able to afford the transport fare to Abuja because it has come down. In any case, experts have always argued that a decline in inflation does not necessarily mean a reduction in price. Instead, it is showing that the rate of price increase had fallen compared to previous months under review.
Perhaps the editorial was written days before it was published because some of the arguments in it do not take many developments into consideration. It is not true that food prices are skyrocketing, certainly not in the markets we patronize in Kaduna.
The harvest season has boosted food supply, contributing to the decline in food prices. This is a result of the improvement in security, which allowed many communities to return to their farms. The Naira has also been stable for quite a while now, remaining below N1,500/$.
But as I argued earlier, a drop in inflation rates does not mean people will just start affording things. The NBS inflation figure is more about the slowing down of the rate at which prices are increasing, not just dropping. As we all know, even in the most developed economies, there are still those who can not afford neither food nor housing, talk less of our communities where the population is seldom productive.
To be sure, The Cabal made some salient points in its editorial, especially with regards to other aspects of the Nigerian economy, but they do not diminish the fact that inflation is declining.
The editorial should not have used the poor purchasing power in the land to belittle the success being recorded with regards to inflation, which, according to experts and analysts, marks the sixth consecutive month of decline. Reports from other reputable sources also indicate a consistent decline in inflation rates due to the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that the deceleration in inflation in Nigeria is being driven by the policy tightening undertaken in recent years, particularly on the monetary policy front, and the effects of exchange rate reforms of the CBN.
The Director of the African Department at the IMF, Abebe Selassie, said on the sidelines of the just ended IMF–World Bank Meetings in Washington, D.C, that “Starting with inflation in Nigeria, we find the decline in inflation consistent with the tightening of policies that have been undertaken in recent years, particularly on the monetary policy front, but also the effect of the exchange rate adjustment that took place over the last year or so and more, having come through the system.
So, it is consistent with the policy calibration that we see. We’re encouraged by it, but I think there are still some ways to go to get to the government’s target.”
Indeed, we must remember that, as part of his anti-inflation efforts since assuming office as the CBN Governor in September 2023, Mr Cardoso has employed aggressive monetary tightening, including consecutive hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), instituting reforms in the foreign exchange (FX) market to unify the exchange rate and reduce imported inflation.
These efforts are what are contributing to the steady disinflation trend, hitting 18.02 per cent in September, its lowest point in three years.
With the downward trend expected to continue – Renaissance Capital Africa (Rencap) reported recently that Nigeria’s inflation might have slowed down to 12 per cent in October, some eight percentage points below the August official rate – the apex bank’s single-digit target seems achievable, and this is where all hands must be on deck to make it possible.
For now, we should the inflation figures released by the NBS as reflecting – rather than insulting – Nigeria’s present reality.
Nasir writes from Abuja