Taiwo Popoola
The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Bashiru Ajibola, human rights lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, and a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi, have expressed divergent views over the policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Whereas Adegboruwa and Sowunmi criticised Tinubu’s economic policies, Ajibola defended the president, saying that what he is doing is the best.
The trio made these assertions on Wednesday while speaking on the topic, “The Tinubu Administration’s Economic Agenda and Policy: How Far? So Far,” during an event marking the 70th anniversary of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
Adegboruwa and Sowunmi both argued that Tinubu’s policies have resulted in mass poverty, widespread suffering, inflation, and the ‘Japa’ syndrome.
Ajibola, on the other hand, stated that Tinubu has made the best decisions for the country in terms of economic policies.
Adegboruwa said: “If you go through the APC constitution and manifesto, we have devolution of power. Look at how we have not been able to tackle restructuring and true federalism. Orosanye gave a report stating that Nigeria is overloaded. He suggested that we either merge some of these agencies or scrap them.”
“I’m suggesting that the president should take hold of the constitution and manifesto of his party and implement devolution of power and full restructuring. Secondly, focus on infrastructure. Most of our roads are bad. You can’t travel unless you go by air. We need to create an enabling environment. There is no consistency in government policies. For instance, some senators are being withdrawn from the floor of the Senate. We should focus on having an independent judiciary. If you ask me, regarding Tinubu’s administration, how far so far, I will say we haven’t started anything at all.”
Sowunmi, in his reaction, condemned Tinubu for removing the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS.
He said: “Both the disbursing and receiving ends of their ‘mystery index’ are being handled by men from the South West. The CBN, the Ministry of Finance, the Chief of Army Staff, the IGP, etc., all have Southerners at the helm. How unreasonable and how tribal is that? How long are we going to wait for the economy to improve when the naira continues to be devalued and the dollar is rising every day? Instead of keeping money in the banks, our people are keeping it in their private vaults, yet you want the monetary policy to improve.”
Ajibola, however, countered that Tinubu’s administration is not a socialist government as claimed by Adegboruwa and Sowunmi. He added that they should stop using the parameters of socialism to assess Tinubu’s government.
According to him: “We are acknowledging the serious issue of inflation in the country, and that is why the focus of the 2025 budget, which is being presented today by the president, is targeted at reducing inflation. We’re embarking on massive infrastructure development to achieve economic growth for our people.
“Our economic policies are clear. We have a unified exchange rate, and the backlog of forex debt that the country had has been settled. We’ve made Nigeria an investment-friendly climate. Regarding the fuel subsidy, even the lecturer admitted that it’s a good policy. We are working towards having an economy that discourages fraudulent manipulation and promotes the development of Nigerian people.”
