The Presidency has dismissed the attack on President Bola Tinubu by the National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rauf Aregbesola, saying he (Aregbesola) failed woefully as governor and minister, the previous offices he occupied.
It also described the ADC as a party of desperados and power mongers who, to date, have not articulated any credible plan for Nigeria.
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PREMIUM TIMES had reported that while delivering his address at the ADC national convention held in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Aregbesola described the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration as a “scam.”
He also asked the president, his erstwhile political ally, to step down for allegedly failing to deliver on his electoral promises.
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“Ordinarily, having made such a promise and failed woefully, an honest president should simply step down and not seek re-election. Rather, what we are witnessing is the most desperate attempt by a candidate in Nigerian electoral history to retain power at all costs, even if it means bringing down the entire democratic system,” he said.
But in a statement pisted on his X account on Tuesday evening, Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said Mr Aregbesola did not undertake any honest self-reflection on his own record in public office—as governor or as Minister of Interior.
Mr Onanuga said his eight years as governor of Osun State “were characterised by unmitigated hardship for the people.”
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The spokesperson also said during Mr Aregbesola’s four years as minister, obtaining a Nigerian passport became a nightmarish process, while there were 15 major attacks on correctional facilities in Jos, Abolongo, Imo, Kabba, and Okitipupa, resulting in over 4,000 inmates escaping to join criminal elements.
“This is the same man who now has the effrontery to attack the Tinubu administration, despite his tenure in Osun leaving a legacy of unpaid salaries, financial recklessness, abandoned projects, and misguided policies that brought the state to ruin.
“His immediate successor, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, worked hard to clean up much of the mess left behind, and Governor Adeleke is still dealing with the consequences,” Mr Onanuga said.
Mr Aregbesola served as works commissioner when Mr Tinubu was governor of Lagos before moving to Osun as governor and thereafter Interior minister under late former president, Muhammadu Buhari.
Read the full statement
No, Rauf. The real scammers are the politicians inside the SPV called ADC.
My attention has been drawn to Rauf Aregbesola’s attack on the Tinubu administration at today’s illegal elective convention of the ADC—a party of desperados and power mongers who, to date, have not articulated any credible plan for Nigeria. At the event, Aregbesola reportedly called on his former boss, mentor, and benefactor to resign, parroting the opposition’s warped narratives about the economy and orchestrated reports of terrorist attacks in some parts of the country.
Unfortunately, Aregbesola did not undertake any honest self-reflection on his own record in public office—as governor or as Minister of Interior. His eight years as governor of Osun State were characterised by unmitigated hardship for the people. Under his half-baked socialist policies, civil servants went unpaid for months, and those who were paid received only a fraction of their salaries. It is to Aregbesola’s infamy that Osun became known as a state receiving negative federal allocation and paying just 20 to 30 per cent of normal salaries. It was worse for pensioners in Aregbesola’s Osun State. Many pensioners who relied on their meagre monthly payments died because they were not paid at all.
This is the same man who now has the effrontery to attack the Tinubu administration, despite his tenure in Osun leaving a legacy of unpaid salaries, financial recklessness, abandoned projects, and misguided policies that brought the state to ruin. His immediate successor, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, worked hard to clean up much of the mess left behind, and Governor Adeleke is still dealing with the consequences.
Aregbesola’s second line of attack against President Tinubu is equally hypocritical. As Minister of Interior under President Muhammadu Buhari, his tenure witnessed the highest number of jailbreaks in Nigeria’s history—including the infamous Kuje Prison escape in Abuja.
During his four years, obtaining a Nigerian passport became a nightmarish process, and there were 15 major attacks on correctional facilities in Jos, Abolongo, Imo, Kabba, and Okitipupa, resulting in over 4,000 inmates escaping to join criminal elements.
For someone who failed so woefully to secure our correctional centres and uphold his duties between 2019 and 2023, it is ironic that Aregbesola now seeks to lecture others on insecurity. Maybe he thinks the entire Nigerian population suffers from amnesia.
Politicians may indulge in cheap talk and easy criticism, but Nigerians must never forget the abysmal records of Rauf and his fellow desperados. Nigerians must remain vigilant, lest power-hungry individuals with no programme attempt to hoodwink them. Because they have no credible programme, they are weaponising the isolated terrorist attacks, as if the problem started from this administration.
The Tinubu administration has never shied away from acknowledging that policy reforms have brought unintended consequences, impacting the most vulnerable. However, over the last three years, the government has introduced numerous relief measures to mitigate these effects – including increasing the minimum wage by over 100 per cent, making cash transfers to the vulnerable, assisting small-scale enterprises, and reducing inflation to less than 15 per cent from over 25 per cent at the start of the reforms, with food prices crashing. The government will continue to implement policies to alleviate hardship and support the most vulnerable in our society.
READ ALSO: ADC Convention: Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda a scam Aregbesola
On security, the Tinubu administration has been supporting the military, the DSS and the intelligence agencies.
The government has been investing in more and more equipment for the military and has sought assistance from foreign governments to battle the inherited scourge of terrorism and banditry.
The administration’s Renewed Hope Programme is on track and has received global praise. We have seen the effects of how it has increased GDP and our foreign reserves, made our country the toast of investors, investors, and made our stock market bullish and prosperous.
No, Rauf, the Renewed Hope Agenda is not a scam. The real scammers are the politicians gathered inside the SPV called ADC.
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