Presidency Defends Tinubu’s Reforms, Faults Opposition’s Criticism of Independence Day Address

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The Presidency on Friday rose in stout defence of the reforms embarked upon by President Bola Tinubu’s administration over three years ago.

Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his verified X handle, @aonanuga1956, referred to President Tinubu’s argument in the October 1, 2026 Independence Address that past governments had postponed difficult economic decisions and allowed distortions in the economy to deepen.

According to him, previous administrations focused on the symptoms of Nigeria’s economic problems while allowing deeper structural weaknesses to take hold.
“They focused on symptoms while allowing the disease to take hold deep within the fabric of our society. We spent enormous sums sustaining inefficient arrangements that were never intended to last. We hid from difficult truths and passed the consequences from one generation to the next”, he said.

The presidential media aide said one of the key points critics appeared to ignore was the President’s argument that his administration’s reforms did not create Nigeria’s economic weaknesses but were designed to confront them.

Onanuga, while quoting Tinubu said “our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them. Now, as certain influential but regressive voices would have us abandon the treatment and return to the abuse of addictive subsidies, we must resist their siren song. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come”.

The President, in the Independence Day address, said Nigeria’s economy had grown by more than four per cent this year, with both the oil and non-oil sectors contributing to what he described as a renewed period of stable growth. NigeriaInvestment Guide
According to Tinubu: “For too long, the promise of Nigeria was undermined by choices that postponed difficult decisions and allowed deep economic distortions to grow.
“By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone. The country’s situation was darker than ever. We had no choice but to act”, Tinubu said in the address.

The President likened the country’s economic condition to that of a cancer patient faced with the choice of undergoing painful treatment with the prospect of recovery or relying on painkillers while the underlying illness continued to spread.
“Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came”, Tinubu said.

In another post, Onanuga accused politicians criticising President Tinubu’s Independence Day broadcast of preparing their reactions before the speech was broadcast on Thursday morning.
According to him, the criticisms suggested that some of the President’s opponents either did not read or properly listen to the October 1 address before issuing their responses.

Onanuga pointed out “immutable truths” from the speech, particularly Tinubu’s defence of his administration’s economic reforms and his warning against a return to the subsidy regime.
“The politicians criticising President Tinubu’s October 1 speech apparently hadn’t read it. They seemed to have prepared their reactions before the speech was delivered on network TV and radio”, the presidential spokesperson wrote.