President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has criticised politicians who faulted the President’s 66th Independence Day speech, accusing some of them of preparing their responses before the address was delivered.

Onanuga made the remarks in a post on Friday while defending Tinubu’s economic reforms and the key points contained in the President’s October 1 Independence Day address.

According to Onanuga, some politicians had already prepared their reactions before Tinubu delivered the speech and therefore failed to engage with what he described as an “immutable truth” contained in the President’s remarks.

During the Independence Day broadcast, Tinubu defended the economic reforms implemented by his administration and rejected calls to reverse them or restore fuel subsidies.

He described such appeals as a “siren song” and referred to subsidies as “addictive. The President also said Nigeria’s economy had grown by more than four per cent in 2026, with both the oil and non-oil sectors contributing to what he described as a period of stable growth.

Tinubu further said oil theft had declined, inflation had fallen substantially from its peak, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and the foreign exchange market had stabilised.

The President’s Independence Day address, titled “From Reform to Prosperity,” presented the administration’s next phase as a shift from economic stabilisation to broader prosperity, with emphasis on jobs, affordable food and transportation, industrial growth and support for vulnerable Nigerians.

Onanuga’s response comes amid continued political debate over the impact of the Tinubu administration’s economic policies, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy and other reforms introduced since 2023.