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Tinubu’s First Anniversary: Era Of Pain – Punch Editorial
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A year into President Bola Tinubu’s tenure, the infectious optimism of liberty, economic progress, security, and well-being heralding his inauguration on May 29, 2023, has turned to dying embers. In the President’s first year, all Nigerians see is hopelessness, misery, privations, and pain. The despair is evident in the numbers: the cost-of-living crises, hyperinflation, joblessness, and naira depreciation.
Amidst the supercilious backslapping in government circles, poverty, and bloodshed are intensifying. Tinubu should retrace his steps in the remaining years of his tenure to bequeath a redoubtable legacy to the country.
Under Tinubu, Nigeria is a harsh contrast to Abraham Lincoln’s “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Instead, only a tiny band of politicians, their families, and sycophants are laughing all the way to the bank. From his “subsidy is gone” pronouncement on Inauguration Day, which cancelled petrol subsidies, chronic hardship has defined his tenure.
From N187 per litre pre-Tinubu, petrol now sells between N568/l and N800/l. Without well-implemented safety nets, most citizens have found it difficult to cope with the astronomical rise in transportation and food costs. This has heightened poverty. It stood at 46 per cent in 2023 or 104 million citizens, per the World Bank.
Two other policies have combined to bankrupt citizens. The first is the merger of the naira rates through floatation. The second is the cancellation of subsidies for Band A electricity consumers in April.
Consequently, the naira has depreciated significantly. It exchanged at N464 per $1 in May 2023, plunged to N1,900/$1 early in 2024 before trading at around N1,400/$1 currently despite a raft of artificial policies to shore up its value. By February, it had lost 68 per cent of its value.
The impact goes beyond Nigeria. Formerly reckoned as Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria has ceded the top three continental slots to South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria respectively. It is now fourth in Africa with a GDP of $252.73 billion on the back of currency depreciation.
From N68 per kilowatt-hour, the tariff for the Band A segment climbed to N225/kWh before dropping to N206.80/kWh in May.
On the monetary policy side, the Central Bank of Nigeria has moved the benchmark interest rate from 18.50 per cent in May 2023 to 26.25 per cent, after three consecutive hikes in 2024.
All this has jerked up prices, though the Tinubu government is yet to implement a wage review. He met the national minimum wage of N30,000 per month. Businesses are complaining about the increased costs of borrowing funds.
In April, inflation spiked to a 28-year high of 33.69 per cent. Food inflation worsened to 40.63 per cent. Imports are priced steeply because of the depreciation of the naira. This is devastating to everyday living. Medicines are out of reach of citizens.
Tinubu, who has fulfilled his lifelong ambition to govern Nigeria, assumed office during the economic downturn. But there was hope initially of a revival after a largely successful eight-year tenure in Lagos State (1999-2007). In truth, that optimism is blowing in the wind.
Under him, governance is not much different from the preceding era of locusts supervised by the clueless Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023). Abductions and killings are an epidemic. This is reminiscent of the Biafra Civil War (1967-1970).
While 63,111 died in violence on Buhari’s watch, 6,931 were killed in Tinubu’s first 10 months. Beacon Security and Intelligence counted 2,583 killings in the first quarter under Tinubu. SBM Intelligence reported 4,777 abductions when Tinubu assumed office to early May 2023. The worst-hit states are Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Niger, Zamfara, Kogi, Katsina and Borno.
refineries, the airports, seaports, the Ajaokuta Steel Company, and the railways. This will save the government on running costs and boost foreign direct investment.
The President should redirect focus on security. Without this, farming and business will continue to depress. There is a growing trend of brutality among the security agencies. They are abducting journalists with impunity. This is against the rule of law. Nigeria is no longer under a military regime so Tinubu should rein in their excesses.
His cabinet is bloated. He should have a compact team of performers to reduce the cost of governance.
Tinubu is toeing the path of his predecessors on restructuring. This is ludicrous. It is wishful thinking to believe that Nigeria will make progress without restructuring. The President should make restructuring a priority. It will unleash Nigeria’s productive capacity, rebuild trust in governance, improve security, and de-escalate inter-ethnic tensions.
Punch
The self-acclaimed Director-General of the disputed Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC, Adeyemi Adeniyi, says he borrowed the N400 million to secured the job at the presidency.
Adeniyi made this revelation on Monday during zoom interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.
He said his creditors have reported him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
He described the way some actors in government taking the matter as ‘unfortunate and embarrassing’, asking how only him could manoeuvre the entire Federal Government system.
“I borrowed this money, the N400 million, to pay for this appointment. In fact, those that I borrowed the money from have reported me to the EFCC to refund it,” he said.
When asked to react to the report that there is a United States lobbying firm helping him to seek an asylum, Adeniyi said, “I read it the way you read it.”
News
May 18 primaries has come to a close, I appeal to all my people to support all APC candidates -Ize-Iyamu
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has beckoned on all his loyalists to support All Progressives Congress APC candidates after the party formally endorsed all Edo State candidates.
This was contained in a statement he personally signed encouraging his loyalists in Edo South to throw their weights behind all APC candidates.
Hear him:
“Following wide-ranging consultations with our leaders, party members, supporters, women, youths, and well-wishers across Edo South, Nigeria, and the diaspora, I address you today(Monday ) with profound gratitude, humility, and an unwavering commitment to the unity and progress of our great party.
“The APC Edo South Senatorial Primary held on May 18, 2026 has come to a close. Our party has completed its democratic process, and a candidate has emerged. I accept the decision of our party in good faith and appeal to all our members, followers and friends to do same.
“The All Progressives Congress is greater than any individual ambition. It is a platform built on service, sacrifice, discipline, and our shared commitment to a better future for our people. Political contests may test our preferences, but they must never diminish our common purpose.
To every supporter, coordinator, volunteer, grassroots mobiliser, and everyone who stood with us throughout this journey, I offer my heartfelt appreciation. Your loyalty, sacrifices, encouragement, and prayers have been a constant source of strength. I remain deeply grateful for your confidence and steadfast support.
I wish to specially thank our brothers and sisters in the diaspora across party lines for the overwhelming support they gave my senatorial bid and assure them of my continous commitment to the development and progress of our district. I urge every one of you to remain peaceful, reject division, and continue to uphold the values that have always defined our people.
Now is the time to reconcile, close ranks, and focus on the greater task before us. Our collective responsibility to serve the people of Edo South is far greater than any individual aspiration. As we move forward, I remain committed to working with our leaders, stakeholders, and party faithfuls to strengthen the APC, secure victory in the general election, and advance the development and well-being of Edo South Senatorial District.
The contest is behind us. The future is before us. Let us move forward with one resolve, and one commitment- to build a stronger APC and a more prosperous Edo South.
Thank you for your prayers, your loyalty, and your unwavering support throughout this journey.
History will not remember the contest we fought; it will remember the future we built together. Let us unite. Let us serve. Let us win for the APC, for Edo South and for the people of Edo State.
God bless the All Progressives Congress. God bless Edo South Senatorial District. God bless Edo State.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Oba gha to kpere, ise
The Senate Committee on Finance has opened a fresh scrutiny of the Federal Government’s import duty waiver regime after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) disclosed that the value of Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDECs) issued since March 2020 rose to about ₦34 trillion by 2025.
The committee also threatened sanctions against the heads of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, for failing to appear before its investigative hearing on revenue remittances.
Appearing before the committee on Monday, Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the agency’s revenue performance had been significantly influenced by government fiscal policies, particularly import duty exemptions granted to strategic sectors.
He explained that about 60 per cent of the ₦34 trillion worth of duty waivers covered military hardware imported to strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture, while the remaining exemptions applied to imports of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, medical equipment, industrial machinery, manufacturing inputs and food items under government intervention programmes.
Adeniyi maintained that duty waivers should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue forgone, arguing that they were intended to promote broader economic and social objectives, including industrial growth, improved healthcare delivery and national security.
He, however, recommended stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of the incentives deliver the expected outcomes through increased production, lower prices and wider economic benefits.
The Customs boss also told lawmakers that the Service had generated about ₦4.5 trillion as of June 30, 2026, against an annual revenue target of ₦11.04 trillion.
However, the hearing exposed disagreements over Customs’ financial obligations after the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) alleged that the agency had an outstanding operating surplus liability of about ₦8.9 billion based on its 2019 audited accounts.
Customs officials rejected the claim, insisting that the figures required reconciliation.
The committee also turned its attention to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) after the Fiscal Responsibility Commission alleged that the agency had failed to remit about ₦13.9 billion in operating surplus between 2023 and 2025.
Responding, the Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, acknowledged the outstanding liability but said the Commission had commenced gradual settlement of the amount.
To establish the actual figure, Chairman of the committee, Senator Sani Musa, directed the CAC, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the committee’s secretariat to reconcile their records and submit a comprehensive report within two weeks.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several invited agencies from the investigative hearing.
Senator Musa warned that the heads of the NCAA, SMEDAN, ITF, FMC Jabi and other defaulting agencies must appear at the next sitting or face sanctions under the Senate Standing Rules.
He stressed that agencies responsible for managing public resources have a constitutional obligation to account for revenues generated on behalf of the Federal Government and comply with legislative oversight.
PFIPC scandal: ‘I borrowed N400 million to secure the appointment’ – Adeyemi Adeniyi
May 18 primaries has come to a close, I appeal to all my people to support all APC candidates -Ize-Iyamu
Senate investigates N34tn Duty Waivers, Threatens Sanctions for Defaulting Agencies
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