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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

Tinubu took bullets for Nigeria to survive - Presidential aide

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources Context piece
  • A presidential aide defended President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms, stating they were necessary to prevent Nigeria's fiscal collapse.
  • The aide argued that reforms like removing fuel subsidies and floating the naira, though painful, improved state allocations and enabled salary payments.
  • He claimed these reforms have led to visible development projects across various states and improved governance at the local council level.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, defended the administration's economic reforms, asserting that President Tinubu "took the bullets" necessary to save Nigeria from fiscal collapse. Onanuga stated that opposition politicians are spreading misinformation ahead of the 2027 general election, despite the administration's achievements over the past three years.

The man who has taken the bullets to make Nigeria survive a fiscal disaster is even more willing to take additional bullets to make all Nigerians safe.

— Bayo OnanugaDefending President Tinubu's economic reforms and willingness to make difficult decisions.

Onanuga explained that Tinubu inherited a struggling economy in May 2023, marked by fuel scarcity, multiple exchange rates, low revenue, high debt servicing, and an unsustainable fuel subsidy regime. He highlighted the immediate removal of the petrol subsidy and the floating of the naira as painful but essential measures that averted economic disaster and increased allocations to states and local governments.

In every state I have visited, I have seen this development. Ogun, my state, Oyo, Nasarawa, Enugu, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, and others have witnessed development projects spring up, thanks to President Tinubu’s re-engineering of the federation’s finances and increased allocation to the states.

— Bayo OnanugaHighlighting development projects in various states attributed to the administration's economic policies.

"The man who has taken the bullets to make Nigeria survive a fiscal disaster is even more willing to take additional bullets to make all Nigerians safe," Onanuga stated. He argued that many state governments can now pay salaries and fund infrastructure projects due to increased federal allocations resulting from these reforms. He cited Ogun, Oyo, Nasarawa, Enugu, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, and others as states witnessing development projects.

When local councils begin to receive their allocations directly from the Federation Account, the Tinubu effect will ensure that more governance cascades down to the 774 local councils.

— Bayo OnanugaExplaining the expected positive impact of financial reforms on local governance.

Furthermore, Onanuga suggested that direct allocations to local councils from the Federation Account would enhance governance at the grassroots level. He pointed to governors from Kwara, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Nasarawa states as publicly acknowledging the benefits of the Federal Government's policies. He also claimed that some opposition governors joined the ruling APC due to these financial benefits, refuting claims of bribery.

Many opposition PDP governors who joined the APC did so for this reason, not for the baseless claim that President Tinubu bribed them.

— Bayo OnanugaAddressing political defections and attributing them to economic benefits rather than bribery.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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