Presidency defends Tinubu’s bold reforms as “taking the bullets” for Nigeria’s survival

In a forceful defence of President Bola Tinubu’s economic and governance record, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has described the administration as the one that “took the bullets for Nigeria to survive” after inheriting a near-fiscal disaster in May 2023.

Writing in an opinion piece, Onanuga argued that the opposition’s campaign against Tinubu is built on misinformation and ignores the administration’s achievements in three years of difficult reforms. “With politicking intensifying ahead of the January 2027 election, opposition politicians have escalated their campaign of misinformation and calumny to diminish the impact and achievements of this administration over the last three years,” he wrote.

He stressed that while the campaign might have made sense “two years ago, when the administration was struggling to deal with the unintended consequences of its historic reforms,” it is no longer justified. “But not anymore, as the administration can rightly claim bragging rights for what it has achieved against all odds and why the international community is applauding it for putting Nigeria irrevocably on the path of growth and development.”

Onanuga said President Tinubu faced a profoundly broken system upon taking office. “In May 2023, President Tinubu inherited acute petrol scarcity, an unsustainable petrol subsidy regime due to expire in June 2023, multiple exchange rates, arbitrage, and low revenue, with at least 30 states unable to pay workers, let alone fund infrastructure and social projects. Debt servicing consumed 97 per cent of Federal revenue,” he wrote. He added that food scarcity and inflation were also plaguing the country as farmers abandoned their fields amid a currency squeeze introduced by former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.

“President Tinubu, guided by the Renewed Hope Agenda, wasted no time,” Onanuga said. “He threw the ruinous subsidy out of the window from Day One. Days later, he floated the Naira and ended the artificial fixing of the Naira-to-dollar exchange rate, a system that had enabled well-connected individuals to profit effortlessly.”