“Be careful; watch them. Don’t let them lie to you. What is past is in the past. Fuel subsidy is in our past: no more corruption, no more falsification of invoices, no more lies, no more smuggling of fuel.
“It is APC all the way. Your prosperity is here. Your future is in your hands. The promise of a better tomorrow is here once again. Go out massively to elect me again on January 16, 2027,” he said.
However, not many Nigerians believe what the President said, and they have gone all out to express their anger over the statement.
Some Nigerians believe that Tinubu’s memory has taken flight.
To such people, how could the President blame the opposition, which left office when the price of petrol was N87 per litre and a bag of rice was N8,000, for causing hunger in the country?
Some believe that what President Tinubu said was simply an admission of failure.
For former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, however, the statement was a shameless way of shirking responsibility.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, reacted swiftly to Tinubu’s remarks, describing them as a delusional and shameless attempt to dodge responsibility for the misery his own government had inflicted on Nigerians.
He said a president cannot light the fire of hardship with his own policies and then turn around to blame the neighbours for the smoke.
Also reacting, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, advised President Tinubu to focus on addressing the hardship faced by Nigerians.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, in response to Tinubu’s comments at a political gathering in Kaduna over the weekend.
He questioned whether the President was suggesting that hunger began only after his administration took office about three years ago.
“Is he saying that the hunger started in the last three years? Because he was also the person who said that hunger has always been with us,” he said.
The NDC spokesman argued that the President should prioritise finding solutions to the country’s economic challenges rather than blaming opposition parties.
He maintained that even if the opposition were responsible for the situation, the responsibility of the sitting government would still be to address it.
“Assuming, but not conceding, that the opposition created hunger, his business and responsibility is to eliminate hunger, because that is why he told Nigerians he’s ‘Emi Lokan,’” he said.
He also claimed that Tinubu’s remarks reflected a lack of achievements by the ruling APC to present to Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“It has shown that the APC has no achievement to campaign with,” he said.
Recall that the hardship in the country took a dangerous turn after the removal of fuel subsidy on the day Tinubu assumed office in May 2023. Critics have continued to demand evidence that the savings and additional revenue generated by the reforms, including fuel subsidy removal, are translating into improved living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
But Tinubu has insisted that the removal of fuel subsidy is irreversible, even as he defended the measure as a necessary step to reduce public expenditure, tackle alleged corruption associated with the subsidy system and establish the foundations for sustainable economic growth.
Much as the President would like to put the blame for hunger and poverty on the opposition, ordinary Nigerians have continued to question what informed that declaration.
Reacting to the development, a secondary school teacher in Lagos, Mr Adewale Adepoju, wondered what the President thinks of Nigerians.
“Does the President think that we are fools? The opposition he is referring to should be the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that handed power to the APC. Yes, he can’t be talking about the APC.
“Now, even the dumbest person in Nigeria knows that life was much better under the PDP. During the PDP era, Nigerians bought a litre of petrol for N87.
“A bag of rice was just N8,000. A bag of cement was less than N1,000. Garri was food for the poor. In fact, the poor didn’t have to bother about food; the poor man bothered about other basic needs like a good house and beautiful clothes, but not food.
“Today, even the rich are crying. It all started in 2015 when the APC took over from the PDP. They came with a change mantra, but we never knew that the change they preached was a negative one. We were crying that Buhari was wicked, but we didn’t know that he was still a very good man.
“But with Tinubu, Nigerians discovered that Buhari was a good man. At least under Buhari, we were still buying fuel at N167 per litre and a bag of rice for N20,000. At least, garri was still for the poor.
“Today, all that has changed. Hunger has become our national anthem. Insecurity walks on all fours. Poverty has reached the highest level, and Nigerians are spoiling for a revolution. And instead of finding solutions to the myriad problems tearing the country apart, a President is busy shifting blame.
“For me, Tinubu knows what he is doing. He is taking Nigerians for a ride. But I want to remind him that he can only fool some people some of the time, and possibly some people all the time, but he cannot fool all the people all the time.
“This time around, his trick has failed. We know where our hunger and poverty emanated from, and it is from him. Since he assumed office in May 2023, Nigerians have not known peace; they have been going through hell, living from hand to mouth, while he, his household, associates and a few cronies swim in opulence.
“We shall take our destiny into our hands on January 16, 2027, as he advised at that Kaduna rally,” he stated.
Social media was not left out of the conversation.
An X user, @Naughti_awol, disagreed with President Tinubu’s remarks, saying, “APC has been in power since 2015; that’s about 12 years now. When did the opposition cause hunger? Or are you telling me that Tinubu is blaming Jonathan?
“Let’s even assume the opposition, that’s the PDP, caused hunger while in power; the APC has been in charge for 12 years and still can’t change the story. That’s beyond incompetence, and it’s all we need to know that Tinubu has to go.”
Another user, @SarautaMaryam, was taken aback by the President’s audacity to make such brazen remarks about the opposition when, according to her, the truth was obvious. She warned Nigerians against re-electing the President, stressing that doing so would be suicidal.
She wrote: “The audacity is astounding. Those who left Nigerians buying spaghetti at N100, eggs at N50 and petrol at N87 per litre are now being blamed for creating hunger.
“Let’s be clear: APC made hunger a national symbol. A second term for Tinubu could take Nigerians from hunger to outright famine.”
