Daud Olatunji
The Presidency has rejected a report by The Economist suggesting that President Bola Tinubu could secure re-election in 2027 despite growing public dissatisfaction with his administration.
The British magazine, in a report published on October 1, titled, “Nigerians dislike their president, but may re-elect him anyway,” attributed the President’s electoral prospects to Nigeria’s complex political and electoral system rather than widespread approval of his administration.
The Economist pointed to worsening insecurity, the hardship associated with the government’s economic reforms and the emergence of political challengers as factors that could threaten Tinubu’s bid for another term in office.
But the Presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described the assessment as inaccurate, condescending and based on what it called a distorted reading of Nigeria’s political and economic realities.
Dare, in a statement issued on Wednesday, accused the publication of presenting a pessimistic picture of the country while overlooking what he described as the Tinubu administration’s efforts to rebuild an economy inherited in critical condition.
According to him, the report “smells of opposition and is riddled with inconsistencies.”
He said, “In their rush to paint a picture of impending doom, structural paralysis, and widespread citizen despair, these overseas observers routinely traffic in sensationalist half-truths.
“They love to peddle the lazy, hollow fiction that ‘Nigerians hate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,’ packaging localised administrative growing pains into neat, uniform narratives of national rejection.”
Dare went further, describing the publication’s assessment as “not merely analytical laziness” but “an intellectual fraud”, arguing that it failed to account for the scale of the economic challenges confronting the country when Tinubu assumed office in May 2023.
He maintained that the President inherited what he described as a “broken economic ecosystem on the precipice of total sovereign bankruptcy.”
The presidential aide cited the removal of the petrol subsidy, foreign exchange reforms, debt-service pressures and years of inadequate investment in critical infrastructure as evidence of the structural problems confronting the administration.
According to Dare, successive petrol subsidy regimes had drained public resources, while multiple foreign exchange windows encouraged corruption and restricted legitimate businesses.
He added that debt servicing had at one point consumed a substantial portion of government revenue, leaving limited resources for development.
Dare argued that Tinubu’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy on his first day in office demonstrated what he called the President’s willingness to confront longstanding economic problems rather than defer them.
“By decisively terminating the burdensome fuel subsidy on Day One, the administration stopped the bleeding of national resources, saving the federation trillions of Naira and redirecting funds toward productive capital development and fiscal sustainability,” he said.
The Presidency also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, describing its implementation as one of the administration’s major social interventions.
Dare said hundreds of thousands of students had benefited from the scheme, arguing that the initiative had enabled indigent Nigerians to pursue higher education without the immediate burden of tuition fees.
He also pointed to wage reforms, increased financial resources available to local governments and interventions targeting farmers as evidence of what he described as the administration’s positive impact on citizens.
The presidential aide said the government’s reforms should be viewed as necessary measures to address problems that had accumulated over several decades.
“Speak with public servants whose take-home monthly pay has been elevated by progressive wage reforms. Speak with local government chairmen and community leaders who finally have the financial independence to execute localised projects. Engage farmers witnessing targeted interventions,” Dare said.
“These citizens recognise a leader doing the heavy, foundational lifting — someone cleaning up decades of accumulated governance debris.
“They know that the current reforms are the bitter medicine required to cure a chronic national ailment.”
The Presidency’s response comes as political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections intensify, with the performance of the Tinubu administration expected to remain a major issue in the emerging contest.
'
'Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity for a product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 Email: platformtimes@gmail.com
We are committed to impactful investigative journalism for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell more stories. Kindly donate any amount HERE
