The Presidency has defended the administration of President Bola Tinubu against claims that little or nothing has changed in Nigeria, saying the country has recorded significant progress since the government assumed office.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the statement on Saturday while reacting to a post by financial analyst Aja Kalu on X.Kalu had argued that Nigeria’s revenues, expenditure, deficit and debt had all increased, questioning what had changed under the Tinubu administration.
Responding, Onanuga said the administration had made notable achievements despite the challenges confronting the country.
He cited the continued functioning of Nigerian universities without the prolonged disruption previously associated with strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
According to him, state governments are now better positioned to pay workers, while university students are gaining access to education loans under the current administration.
Onanuga also highlighted the Federal Government’s ongoing infrastructure projects, including the construction of two major superhighways linking coastal states and the Sokoto-Badagry corridor.
He further claimed that Nigeria’s economy had recorded trade surpluses and that the Central Bank of Nigeria had increased the country’s foreign exchange reserves to about $54 billion.
The presidential aide also pointed to the ability of Nigerians to use naira-denominated bank cards abroad as another development under the Tinubu administration.
He argued that deficit financing was not necessarily wrong if borrowed funds were deployed productively rather than primarily used to pay salaries.
Onanuga said critics who refused to acknowledge the government’s achievements were driven by political interests and hostility toward the administration.
“Only those power mongers and those blinded by hate will not acknowledge the progress we have made under President Tinubu,” he stated.
The exchange comes amid continued debate over the impact of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, exchange-rate reforms, rising public debt and the government’s borrowing plans.
