Bola Ahmed Tinubu is celebrating his third year in office with divergent opinions on his performance since he took over from the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu’s administration has claimed to be focusing on economic reforms and fiscal restructuring. Tinubu has removed subsidies on petroleum and floated the dollar. This development has given more funds to the 36 state governors.
The governors have mismanaged the funds allocated to them from the federation account, worsening the economic situation in their respective states. To worsen the situation, prices of goods and services are out of the reach of the average citizen. He has also removed Wale Edun as Minister of Finance and appointed Taiwo Oyedele as a replacement. The value of the Naira has not improved compared to other major currencies in the world despite the change of guard.
The subsidy removal and FX float have also led to sharp naira depreciation and inflation. Headline inflation rose from 22 percent in May 2023 to more than 30 percent through 2024. The cost of living, transport, and food prices increased significantly, hitting low-income households hardest. Many Nigerians, especially civil servants, are groaning over the cost of living.
In the area of security, banditry, farmer/herder clashes, and attacks in North Central, South East, and North East still occur. In the Southwest geo-political zone, people have been abducted in Ondo, Ekiti, and Oyo States. The ranging issue is the abduction of school children in Oyo State. There have been protests over the insecurity in the zone.
In politics, many people are of the opinion that Tinubu is a master strategist, having been in charge of Lagos State since 1999. He has survived all attempts to wrestle power from him in the Centre of Excellence.
He has remained politically relevant in the country, having left the office of governor in 2007. He has presented Nuhu Ribadu, Atiku Abubakar, and Buhari as presidential candidates. He eventually became the president on May 29, 2023.
However, his actions since he assumed office have shown that Tinubu was overrated. The first was the Electoral Act, where he ensured that all political parties use consensus and direct primaries to choose their candidates for the 2027 general elections. The National Assembly will always accede to his request at the detriment of Nigerians.
The choice of consensus candidates has disrupted the primaries, especially in the All Progressives Congress (APC). Among the aspirants, only Tinubu’s fate is certain as he has collected his certificate of return barely 24 hours after the conduct of the primary.
However, no Senator, House of Representatives, or House of Assembly knows whether or not they are the candidates of the party. The National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Bashir, had said there was no proper primary that the national leadership could rely on.
All aspirants of the party are presently lobbying the presidency and the national leadership for the party’s tickets. Whether they will survive or not is open to historical debate.
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