Tinubu’s Reforms Made You Richer, What About Your Workers? Otega Ogra Asks Atedo Peterside

Otega Ogra, a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and one of the influential figures behind the City Boy Movement, has questioned how the benefits of the Federal Government’s economic reforms are being distributed between corporate executives, investors and ordinary workers.

Ogra raised the questions in a public response to businessman and investment banker Atedo Peterside, who had argued that Tinubu’s economic reforms were making wealthy Nigerians richer while ordinary citizens continued to struggle with rising living costs.

Drawing attention to the performance of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the financial services group founded by Peterside, the senior member of President Bola Tinubu’s media team, argued that its recent financial growth provided an opportunity to examine whether corporate prosperity was translating into improved conditions for employees.

According to Ogra, Stanbic IBTC’s share price had risen by approximately 314 per cent since May 2023, while its profit after tax increased from N80.8 billion in 2022 to N380.8 billion in 2025.

He also cited a trust historically associated with Peterside’s investments, which he said held 220 million Stanbic IBTC shares at the end of 2025, valued at approximately N38.5 billion at Monday’s closing price.

Ogra, however, stressed that the figures did not suggest wrongdoing, noting that Nigerian businesses and investors should prosper.

He attributed much of the company’s improved performance to the policies of the Tinubu administration but questioned how much of the resulting gains had reached employees, particularly cleaners, security guards and outsourced personnel.

“When a listed company’s profit multiplies four times over in three years, how much reaches the people at the bottom of the building in that company?” he asked.

He further questioned whether the remuneration of these categories of workers had increased in line with the company’s share price and profitability.

Ogra also referenced Anap Business Jets, founded and chaired by Peterside, asking how the benefits of growth in the business were shared among its owners, clients and employees.

The intervention adds a corporate accountability dimension to the debate over the social impact of the Federal Government’s economic reforms.

While acknowledging that government must ensure economic adjustments translate into improved living standards, Ogra argued that businesses benefiting from the changing economic environment also had a responsibility to account for how their workers shared in the gains.

He maintained that the government’s responsibility to improve living standards remained unfinished, but insisted that corporate Nigeria should equally examine its obligations to employees.