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| Photo credit — Bayo Onanuga |
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has criticised opposition politicians for their reactions to the President’s Independence Day address delivered on 1 October 2026.
In a post on X on Friday, Onanuga said many of the critics appeared not to have read or listened carefully to the speech. He accused them of preparing their responses in advance of the national broadcast on television and radio.
“The politicians criticising President Tinubu’s October 1 speech apparently hadn’t read it. They seemed to have prepared their reactions before the speech was delivered on network TV and radio,” Onanuga wrote.
He then highlighted what he called an “immutable truth” from the address:
“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them. Now, as certain influential but regressive voices would have us abandon the treatment and return to the abuse of addictive subsidies, we must resist their siren song. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come.
“Three and a half years later, the evidence that Nigeria’s economic outlook has improved is undeniable. Our economy has grown by over 4 per cent this year. Both oil and non-oil sectors have contributed to the renewed period of stable growth.”
The quoted passage forms part of a wider defence of the administration’s economic programme in Tinubu’s Independence Day broadcast. In the full speech the President compared the state of the economy at the start of his tenure to a serious medical condition that required difficult treatment.
He argued that the removal of fuel subsidies and other reforms were necessary responses to long-standing structural problems rather than the cause of current hardships. He also claimed progress on growth, foreign reserves, inflation trends and non-oil exports.
Opposition figures and parties had earlier faulted the address. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition voices argued that claims of improving prosperity did not match the lived experience of many Nigerians facing high living costs. Similar criticisms came from elements within the PDP and other platforms, focusing on the human impact of subsidy removal and the pace of relief for ordinary households.
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Onanuga’s intervention frames those criticisms as selective or pre-scripted, insisting that the core message on the necessity and results of the reforms was ignored. The exchange continues a pattern of sharp public exchanges between the presidency’s communications team and opposition politicians ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Nigeria marked its 66th Independence anniversary on 1 October 2026. The President’s address was his final Independence Day speech before the next presidential election cycle.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Technology.
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