Tinubu Criticises Buhari, Other Leaders For Poor Governance, Failed Promises

A presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, has taken a swipe at Nigerian leaders, saying he would tackle the challenges they have failed to address if he becomes the president.

Speaking in Lagos on Saturday while addressing hundreds of young people who gathered to declare their support for his ambition, Mr Tinubu said “we feel your anger when you are angry. I don’t blame you, the promises of the past have failed to realise that you build a future from the onset, from the kindergarten. We cannot continue the lamentation of the past.”

In his speech, which video was seen by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Tinubu did not distinguish between the government of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and that of Mr Buhari’s predecessors.
Mr Tinubu and Mr Buhari are of the same party, APC, and the aspirant has sought the support of the president for his ambition.

What Tinubu Said

Mr Tinubu said that the promises of a better Nigeria by the past administrations have not been attained. He encouraged the youth to forgo the pains of such failed promises.
President Buhari promised three main things when he was elected: improvements in security, anti-corruption and the economy.

While Nigeria was battling a Boko Haram insurgency in Northern Nigeria before Mr Buhari was sworn in, killings and kidnappings by various groups across the country have become the norm under the president.

The economy has also gotten worse with inflation reaching unprecedented levels while the president has been repeatedly criticised for undermining his own anti-corruption efforts.

It was not only in the area of failed promises that Mr Tinubu took a swipe at Mr Buhari and other former presidents, the former Lagos governor also took a direct but veiled swipe at Mr Buhari for referring to young Nigerians as lazy.

“We cannot continue with excuses or NEPA failure. No. No nation can make rapid development without electricity. Give us that and if we cannot be successful, then you can abuse us. But you cannot give us erratic electricity that is undependable and then blame us again that we are lazy,” the APC leader said.

“No. We have enough gas to fire up our electricity. We can supply the rest of Europe with gas and we can make money.”

Mr Tinubu presented himself as the best candidate that deserves the support of Nigerians and urged the youth to forget the failure of the past and obtain their PVCs ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Again, Tinubu makes false PVC claim
Despite an earlier rebuttal by the electoral commission, INEC, of Mr Tinubu’s earlier claim that voter cards, PVCs, expire, the aspirant repeated the claim on Saturday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the earlier claim by the former governor while addressing some participants at the APC’s Women Conference in Abuja in January. On Saturday, Mr Tinubu repeated the claim.

“If you have no PVC, if you have no revalidation of that PVC, you don’t know whether it has expired. Don’t forget that there is an expiring date, even if you have cash.

“So, go and revalidate the card. Those of you who have not registered must go there. You can’t be part of 1.4 billion people on Instagram and have no card for God’s sake,” he said before referencing the irregular power supply.

Selling his candidacy to his audience, he encouraged the youth to vote for him in the coming APC primaries so he can replicate his performance as a former Lagos governor across the country.

“When I started, we used to pick dead bodies on the street. Today, Lagos is one of the cleanest of progressives states. We deserve your clap,” he said.

“Some of you would not have been able to sit for WAEC if not for the payment by our government. You were beneficiaries. Clap for that and you must vote.

“If you vote for that, you can create the path for free education at the university level. We can build a new Nigeria where prosperity will not be isolated or limited to the family of the poor(rich),” he said.

Since his tenure ended in 2007 as governor of Lagos State, Mr Tinubu has played a dominant role in who manages the affairs of the state. His anointed candidates have always won elections as governors of Lagos, Nigeria’s richest and arguably most-populous state.

Tinubu and Buhari

It is not clear how Mr Tinubu’s snide remarks at President Buhari will affect the relationship between the two men.

Mr Tinubu played a major role in Mr Buhari’s electoral victories in 2015 and 2019. Before their alliance in the build-up to the 2015 election, Mr Buhari had contested and lost three consecutive presidential elections: 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Mr Buhari has not stated whether or not he would support the ex-Lagos governor for the 2023 presidential election.

Apart from Mr Tinubu, other aspirants seeking to be the presidential candidate of the APC for next year’s election include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi and Labour minister Chris Ngige.

At least two of the aspirants, Messrs Osinbajo and Fayemi, were allies of Mr Tinubu who had worked with him directly in the past. Whoever emerges the APC candidate is expected to be the frontrunner in the presidential election but will face a stiff challenge from opposition parties, particularly the PDP.