To factional Afenifere: present alternatives, not criticisms
Atiku, Amaechi, El-Rufai are “displaced rent-seekers” – APC
The Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday launched well-coordinated media attacks on the opposition, with the one dismissing criticisms of “economic mismanagement and democratic backsliding” against President Bola Tinubu’s administration, by a faction of the Afenifere, a pan-Yoruban sociocultural organisation, and the other branding key opposition figures as “displaced rent seekers.”
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, in a statement challenged opponents to tell Nigerians the “alternative strategies they would propose in contrast to the administration’s extensive list of significant achievements currently benefiting Nigerians in real-time” instead of resorting to what it described as “a penchant and deliberate attempt to find faults and trade in deceit.”
He was responding to a faction of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, which had attacked the Tinubu government, claiming economic regression, democratic backsliding, and mismanagement.
Dare dismissed the group’s claims as “prejudiced” and “unsupported by facts,” suggesting they echoed the sentiments of opposition figures they openly supported against the president during the 2023 general elections.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s comeback story is firmly underway. A balanced assessment based on available data reveals a more objective and progressive picture”, Dare stated.
On the economy, the Presidency pointed to significant fiscal reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidies and unification of exchange rates, and insisted that these steps saved the country over $10 billion in 2023 alone, boosted foreign reserves to $38.1 billion, and led to a trade surplus of N18.86 trillion.
“Inflation, though high, is beginning to moderate,” Dare said, noting that the annual inflation rate dropped to 23.71% in April 2025 from 24.23% the previous month, with food inflation easing slightly.
He highlighted numerous initiatives rolled out to cushion the effects of reforms: over 5.7 million households benefiting from cash transfers, 900,000 receiving grants and loans under the Presidential Intervention Scheme, 600,000 accessing student loans, and a new minimum wage of N70,000. The NYSC monthly stipend was also raised from N33,000 to N77,000, he added.
On transport and energy reforms, Dare cited the distribution of free CNG kits to thousands of drivers, the rollout of CNG buses in partnership with state governments, and a subsequent decline in transport costs.
He further listed achievements across sectors to be: over $10 billion in FX backlog cleared, 60% increase in federal allocations to states, N50 billion released to end university union strikes, revitalisation of over 1,000 primary healthcare centres, and digital infrastructure projects connecting more than two million Nigerians.
The Presidency also touted its macroeconomic milestones as: 3.84% GDP growth in Q4 2024, over $50 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments, an increase in net foreign reserves from $3.99 billion to $23.11 billion, and significant inflows into solid minerals and oil and gas sectors.
Addressing concerns over the cost of governance and the long-stalled Oronsaye Report, which recommends the merger of redundant government agencies, Dare noted that while full implementation remains pending, Tinubu’s administration has shown fiscal prudence.
“The fiscal deficit was reduced from 5.4% of GDP in 2023 to 3.0% in 2024, and the debt service-to-revenue ratio dropped from nearly 100% in 2022 to under 40% by 2024,” he said, pointing out that
the administration also raked in over N6 trillion in revenue in Q1 2025, aided by the removal of Ways and Means advances and subsidies.
In response to accusations of prebendalism and elite favouritism, Dare referenced ongoing anti-corruption efforts, including the suspension of a cabinet minister in January 2024 and the work of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which secured a record 4,111 convictions and recovered N364 billion in 2024.
He also pointed to the landmark recovery and forfeiture of an Abuja estate comprising 725 housing units, now under the Federal Ministry of Housing’s control.
On democratic institutions, he rejected the factional Afenifere’s claim that the Tinubu administration is fostering “totalitarianism” or eroding democratic checks and balances. “The Supreme Court has upheld opposition victories in states like Kano, Plateau, and Abia,” Dare argued, citing the rulings as proof of judicial independence.
He also rebutted claims of government complicity in cracking down on peaceful protest and manipulating the electoral process through partisan appointments.
Concerning the issue of state policing, which Afenifere endorsed as a democratic necessity, the Presidency urged caution, insisting that security impact assessments guide such reforms to avoid misuse or unintended consequences.
The Presidency said over 13,500 terrorists and bandits were neutralised, and 7,000 arrested within the past year.
“Farms have reopened, and rural communities are returning to productivity,” Dare added, listing further investments in agriculture, tractors, and fertiliser distribution.
The Tinubu government, he said, has also demonstrated inclusivity through the creation of six geo-political regional development commissions, each tasked with accelerating localised growth.
On the broader political climate, Dare rejected as “baseless” allegations that the administration is meddling in opposition party affairs or trying to stifle dissent in the build-up to the 2027 general elections.
He cited the country’s improved international ratings, including a Moody’s upgrade from Caa1 to B3 and Fitch’s credit rating bump, as validation that Tinubu’s reforms are gaining traction.
“The government is not oblivious to the hardships Nigerians are going through, but the signs of recovery are real. The administration is working with urgency to deliver more tangible results”, Dare affirmed.
He concluded that critics like the Afenifere faction “see the cup as half empty,” whereas “the facts show the cup is half full — and filling steadily.”
“From stabilising the naira and curbing inflation, to reducing debt burdens and expanding access to education and health, the Tinubu administration is delivering bold reforms with real results”, Dare asserted.
The Presidency called on all stakeholders, especially political leaders, to work collaboratively in countering fake news and supporting Nigeria’s recovery, warning against the spread of AI-generated disinformation and misleading rhetoric.
“Under President Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria is turning the corner. The comeback story is far from over — but it is firmly underway”, the statement concluded.
Also yesterday, the APC launched a virulent attack on key opposition figures, describing them as “displaced rent-seekers”seeking to grab power for “self-aggrandizement.” In a statement, Felix Morka, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the free-fall of the Naira, more than 10 years after the party lost the presidential election.
He was reacting to various opposition statements made at the 60th birthday colloquium of former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi. Morka said the allegation that the APC government of President Tinubu is“weaponizing” poverty is baseless.
Morka said the trio of Atiku, El-Rufai, and Amaechi failed to achieve poverty eradication during a quarter of a century in power, and questioned the basis of their attacks on Tinubu. He lamented that Amaechi’s birthday “celebration quickly dissolved into an occasion for Amaechi, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory – leading displaced rent-seekers – to showcase their frenzied desperation to grab power purely for their self-aggrandizement.”
“These three individuals have occupied Nigeria’s highest political offices between 1999 and 2023, either as Vice President, Governors, or Ministers, among other important positions.
“In all 24 years, the trio, individually or collectively, could not and did not eradicate poverty in their states or the country. They did not even attempt to address, let alone tackle, the structural challenges and distortions that stifled the economy and worsened poverty over the years.
”Rather, they reveled in mindless rent-seeking behavior, sold national assets to their cronies for mere pittance, engaged in corrupt and wasteful expenditures in their states, and relentlessly sponsored state violence against their own people.
“Take the case of Amaechi, the celebrant, who served for an unbroken total of 24 years – eight years as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, eight years as Governor of Rivers State, and eight years as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
”That’s about a quarter of a century of freeloading by Amaechi on state resources, with absolutely no record of attempting to combat poverty in his Rivers State or the country.
“When Amaechi declared, ‘I am hungry,’ he must mean, and must be understood to mean, that he is hungry and desperate to return to his entitled dependency on state resources and patronage.
”That he is ‘hungry’ barely two years out of office simply underscores the depth of the self-serving motivations of Amaechi and his coalition partners in their quest for power for selfish exploitation, and not for the interest of the people.
“Nigerians see right through their disruptive politicking. Amaechi and his cohorts are losing their grip on the economy. Accustomed to fleecing the economy, they are now compelled by Tinubu’s unprecedented reforms to adapt to a new reality where hard work, productivity, and innovation are rewarded.
“Their criticisms of President Tinubu’s reforms are decidedly self-serving, driven by a desperate quest for power to satiate their voracious rent-seeking appetite, which has long stifled and denied progress to the economy,” he said.