BY: Oluwatoyin Hawal Momolosho
As political activities gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general election, social media users have continued to circulate claims about the policies and intentions of presidential hopefuls.
One such claim is a statement attributed to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, alleging that he would sell the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) if elected president.
The statement has generated reactions online, with some users questioning what such a decision would mean for Nigeria’s economy.
Claim:
A post shared on X by @Sistaliano on August 30, 2026, attributed the following statement to Atiku Abubakar:
“I will sell the Central Bank if I’m elected. Other countries have done it in the past.”
The post further added that Atiku would allegedly sell the bank to himself.
The claim was subsequently reposted by other social media users and appeared in other online publications.
A screenshot accompanying some of the posts also purported to attribute the statement to Sahara Reporters.
Verdict:
False.
Who is Atiku Abubakar?
Atiku Abubakar is a former Vice-President of Nigeria and the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general election.
He has been publicly campaigning on economic reforms and has recently outlined several proposals, including measures aimed at supporting young Nigerians and expanding access to financing for businesses.
His political positions and public statements have been extensively reported, making a statement of such magnitude as the alleged sale of the CBN one that would ordinarily attract significant public and media attention.
Verification:
To establish whether Atiku actually made the statement, FactCheckAfrica searched for the quotation and examined available reports, social media posts and public statements associated with the former vice-president.
The earliest publicly traceable X post found in our search was published by @Sistaliano on August 30.
Although the post presented the words as a direct quotation, it did not provide a video, audio recording, transcript or official statement showing where or when Atiku allegedly made the remark.
Further searches also found that the same quotation was circulated by other X users, including @SoprialaMembere, who reproduced the statement and attributed it to Atiku.
However, the repetition of a statement across several social media accounts does not establish that the person named in the quotation actually made it.
FactCheckAfrica also found that an online publication, Podium Reporters, subsequently published a story claiming that Atiku made the statement at a town-hall meeting in Lagos.
However, the report does not provide a recording or transcript of the alleged declaration.
More importantly, searches of available reports on Atiku’s activities around the period the claim emerged did not produce a contemporaneous report confirming that he announced a plan to sell the CBN.
On August 29, 2026, for instance, Atiku announced a proposed $100 billion financing programme for start-ups and entrepreneurs. His statement focused on creating economic opportunities for young Nigerians and moving them from dependence on government assistance towards productive enterprise.
There was no mention in that statement of a plan to sell the CBN.
Has Atiku spoken about privatisation before? Yes.
Atiku has previously advocated the privatisation of some government-owned enterprises.
During his 2019 presidential campaign, he spoke in favour of privatising the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). His comments at the time, including his remarks about his friends and government assets, were widely reported.
This history may help explain why the latest claim appears believable to some social media users.
However, supporting the privatisation of a government-owned commercial enterprise does not amount to saying that Nigeria’s central bank should be sold.
The CBN performs a fundamentally different function.
What is the CBN?
The Central Bank of Nigeria is Nigeria’s monetary authority. Among its statutory responsibilities are maintaining monetary and price stability, issuing the country’s legal tender, maintaining external reserves and promoting a sound financial system.
These functions are established under the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007.
Therefore, the claim that Atiku would “sell the CBN” represents a major policy assertion and would require direct evidence from him or his campaign before it could reasonably be accepted as genuine.
Did other countries sell their central banks?
The viral statement also claims that “other countries have done it in the past”.
However, the post does not identify any country where a central bank was sold in the manner suggested. There is an important distinction between the privatisation of a commercial bank and the sale of a central bank.
While some countries have privatised state-owned commercial banks, central banks generally perform sovereign monetary functions, including monetary policy, currency issuance and management of foreign reserves.
The existence of private shareholders in a small number of central banks does not mean that those institutions have been sold to private owners or that private shareholders control their monetary policy.
Consequently, the claim provides no verifiable example to support its assertion that other countries have undertaken such a sale.
What evidence would prove that Atiku made the statement?
For the quotation to be established as genuine, there should be primary evidence showing Atiku making the statement.
Such evidence could include a video or audio recording of the alleged Lagos meeting, an official transcript, an authenticated statement from Atiku or his campaign, or a contemporaneous report from a credible journalist who witnessed the event.
None of these has been produced with the viral claim.
The fact that the statement was reposted by several accounts does not independently authenticate it.
Conclusion:
The claim that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said he would sell the Central Bank of Nigeria if elected president in 2027 is False.
Although the statement has circulated widely on X and was subsequently reproduced in an online report, FactCheckAfrica found no credible primary evidence showing that Atiku made the remark.
Atiku has previously expressed support for the privatisation of certain government-owned enterprises, including NNPC. However, this documented position does not establish that he has proposed selling the CBN.
The claim therefore appears to have taken an unverified quotation and presented it as an established statement by Atiku.
