By Dapo Akinrefon & Johnbosco Agbakwuru
LAGOS — THE Presidency, yesterday, faulted the position of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, that the President Bola Tinubu administration has failed Nigerians.
Afenifere claimed that President Tinubu’s performance over the past two years had witnessed a regression in human development, economic mismanagement, and democratic backsliding.
However, the Presidency described Afenifere’s position as “a jaundiced view, echoing the view of opposition politicians, one of whom the group supported in the 2023 election.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Mr Sunday Dare, in a statement, said the Yoruba body has found it challenging to accept that under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President, Nigeria’s comeback story is firmly underway.
Dare said: “The statement from a factional Afenifere group raises serious concerns about a penchant and deliberate attempt to find faults and trade in deceit instead of objectivity. The group has found it challenging to accept that under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s comeback story is firmly underway.
“This is a jaundiced view, echoing the view of opposition politicians, one of whom the group supported in the 2023 election.
“A balanced assessment based on available data reveals a more objective and progressive picture, with significant achievements amid the challenges expected from a country like Nigeria with decades-old problems.
“Beyond its confounding conclusions based on prejudice, the statement raises the following issues. With the ensuing point-by-point clarification, it will become clear that the group’s position is neither grounded in facts nor logic.
“The factional Afenifere’s claim that Tinubu’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, led to ‘unmitigated sufferings’ and “economic deforms” seeks to draw attention to some of the challenges but overlooks the macroeconomic gains. The removal of the fuel subsidy, announced on May 29, 2023, saved the government over $10 billion in 2023 alone, reducing fiscal strain and redirecting funds to other sectors. Unifying the foreign exchange market and the naira’s floatation aimed to address distortions in the currency market, boosted foreign reserves to $38.1 billion by 2024 and achieved a trade surplus of N18.86 trillion for the country.”
In addition, the Presidential aide said: “It is now pertinent to inquire from opposition leaders about alternative strategies they would propose in contrast to this administration’s extensive list of significant achievements currently benefiting Nigerians in real-time.
“The assertion that the Tinubu administration has failed to implement the Oronsaye Report and instead increased governance costs is inaccurate. The Oronsaye Report, which recommends the merger or scrapping of government agencies to reduce expenditure, has not been fully implemented and has drawn criticisms; it must be noted, however, that the administration has made some efforts to improve fiscal discipline.”
On the allegations of prebendalism and corruption, he said: “Afenifere’s claim that the administration favours ‘the privileged and connected’ through corrupt palliative distribution and mega-project allocations is questionable. Reports of palliatives being mismanaged or distributed through unverified channels have no doubt surfaced, raising concerns about transparency.
“Afenifere’s accusation that the Tinubu administration is pursuing a “one-party state totalitarianism” and undermining democratic institutions is unsupported and lacks merit. The claim of neutralising the legislature and judiciary is also a false alarm.
“The claims of government-sponsored conflicts within opposition parties lack concrete evidence and should be ignored.”
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