Presidency Indirectly Attacks Buhari In Response To Aregbesola

The Presidency has fired back at former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, over his remarks against President Bola Tinubu at the African Democratic Congress (ADC) national convention held on Tuesday in Abuja.

Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, in a stinging rebuttal, indirectly cast a shadow over the administration of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari

While the statement was directed at Aregbesola, Onanuga’s cataloguing of alleged failures during the former minister’s tenure indirectly criticised the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

Onanuga said Aregbesola’s tenure as interior minister witnessed the highest number of jailbreaks in Nigeria’s history.

Quoting the presidential aide, “Unfortunately, Aregbesola did not undertake any honest self-reflection on his own record in public office—as governor or as Minister of Interior. His eight years as governor of Osun State were characterised by unmitigated hardship for the people. Under his half-baked socialist policies, civil servants went unpaid for months, and those who were paid received only a fraction of their salaries. It is to Aregbesola’s infamy that Osun became known as a state receiving negative federal allocation and paying just 20 to 30 per cent of normal salaries. It was worse for pensioners in Aregbesola’s Osun State. Many pensioners who relied on their meagre monthly payments died because they were not paid at all.

“This is the same man who now has the effrontery to attack the Tinubu administration, despite his tenure in Osun leaving a legacy of unpaid salaries, financial recklessness, abandoned projects, and misguided policies that brought the state to ruin. His immediate successor, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, worked hard to clean up much of the mess left behind, and Governor Adeleke is still dealing with the consequences.

“Aregbesola’s second line of attack against President Tinubu is equally hypocritical. As Minister of Interior under President Muhammadu Buhari, his tenure witnessed the highest number of jailbreaks in Nigeria’s history—including the infamous Kuje Prison escape in Abuja. During his four years, obtaining a Nigerian passport became a nightmarish process, and there were 15 major attacks on correctional facilities in Jos, Abolongo, Imo, Kabba, and Okitipupa, resulting in over 4,000 inmates escaping to join criminal elements.

“For someone who failed so woefully to secure our correctional centres and uphold his duties between 2019 and 2023, it is ironic that Aregbesola now seeks to lecture others on insecurity. Maybe he thinks the entire Nigerian population suffers from amnesia.”

Onanuga further said the Tinubu
administration “has never shied away from acknowledging that policy reforms have brought unintended consequences, impacting the most vulnerable.”

“However, over the last three years, the government has introduced numerous relief measures to mitigate these effects—including increasing the minimum wage by over 100 per cent, making cash transfers to the vulnerable, assisting small-scale enterprises, and reducing inflation to less than 15 per cent from over 25 per cent at the start of the reforms, with food prices crashing. The government will continue to implement policies to alleviate hardship and support the most vulnerable in our society.

*On security, the Tinubu administration has been supporting the military, the DSS and the intelligence agencies. The government has been investing in more and more equipment for the military and has sought assistance from foreign governments to battle the inherited scourge of terrorism and banditry.

“The administration’s Renewed Hope Programme is on track and has received global praise. We have seen the effects of how it has increased GDP and our foreign reserves, made our country the toast of investors, and made our stock market bullish and prosperous. No, Rauf, the Renewed Hope Agenda is not a scam. The real scammers are the politicians gathered inside the SPV called ADC.”

At the ADC convention, Aregbesola had described the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda as a scam and declared that the 2027 presidential election would not be a walkover for Tinubu.

“There will be no coronation in 2027. There will be no Kabiyesi in the Presidential Villa come 2027,” he declared.

Aregbesola, who served as Commissioner for Works in Lagos State during Tinubu’s eight years as governor, accused the president of autocratic tendencies.

He said “under this administration, it is a crime to be in the opposition.”

He accused the Tinubu administration of deploying “foul means” to stifle opposition parties ahead of the general elections.