The Presidency has stated that the developmental gains and increased financial capacity recorded under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration are the real reasons behind the wave of opposition governors defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the disclosure in an opinion article titled, “Bola Tinubu: The Man Who Took the Bullet for Nigeria to Survive.”
In the article, Onanuga defended the administration’s economic reforms, catalogued its milestones over the last three years, and fiercely dismissed allegations that the governors were financially induced to switch their political allegiances.
According to Onanuga, state executives across the country have personally acknowledged that President Tinubu’s bold fiscal restructuring—including the removal of the petrol subsidy and the harmonization of foreign exchange rates—substantially boosted subnational revenues, enabling them to execute previously impossible projects.
“Many opposition PDP governors who joined the APC did so for this reason—not for the baseless claim that President Tinubu bribed them,” Onanuga stated.
The presidential spokesman said the economic reality inherited by the administration in May 2023 was bad, noting that fuel scarcity, multiple exchange rates, food inflation, and low revenues plagued the nation, with at least 30 states struggling to pay basic salaries while debt servicing consumed 97 percent of Federal Government revenue.
He explained that while the corrective policies initially triggered hardship and a high cost of living, the President refused to backtrack in the face of intense criticism and opposition attacks.
“Instead, he persisted,” Onanuga wrote, adding that the impact of the reforms is now yielding positive outcomes and is “best felt at the subnational level — state and local levels.”
To back up his claims, Onanuga cited testimonies from various state executives. He noted that Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq admitted to embarking on more projects within the first 18 months of Tinubu’s presidency than during his entire first four years in office.
He also referenced Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru, who credited the reforms for the major underpasses and overpasses built in Abakaliki, and Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, who acknowledged that increased federal allocations supported his ambitious development programs.
Similarly, Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule described Tinubu as a leader who “has taken the bullets for all of them.”
The Presidency’s defense comes amid a significant shift in the country’s political landscape, which saw at least seven governors defect from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.
It can be recalled that allegations were raised, in 2025, against the administration. There were allegations of a massive, state-sponsored financial inducement scheme engineered to systematically lure opposition governors and lawmakers into the ruling party.
According to details published by SaharaReporters, sources claimed that the ongoing wave of defections was being powered by financial packages supervised by senior government officials around Tinubu. The reports alleged that each defecting state governor was allocated a total package of N250 billion.
“This money is released in two tranches; there is a N100 billion “grant” upfront once commitment is shown, and a balance of N150 billion after the formal defection ceremony,” the Newspaper quoted one of the alleged sources.
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