Bola Tinubu has insisted he will not be swayed by mounting political pressure, declaring that no amount of intimidation will derail his administration’s reform programme, even as critics intensify attacks over economic hardship and governance.
Speaking at the State House in Abuja on Thursday, the president struck a combative tone before members of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, a mobilisation network established to promote his government’s agenda at grassroots level.
“There is no better place than your own country, and no one can build it except you,” he said. “They want to scare me off? It’s a lie… I won’t give up.”
The meeting, attended by senior figures including vice-president Kashim Shettima and governors such as Uba Sani and Hope Uzodimma, formed part of a broader effort to consolidate political support as the administration approaches the midpoint of its term.
Tinubu framed his reform agenda as both necessary and already bearing fruit, despite widespread public frustration over rising living costs and persistent insecurity. He cast himself as a leader tested by political adversity, recalling the bruising primaries and general election that brought him to power.
“I’ve been through this path before,” he said. “If I have to come back over and over again, I’ll do the same thing.”
The president also drew a controversial equivalence with his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, suggesting continuity rather than rupture. “The late Buhari is me. He was a partner,” he said, arguing that current challenges were inherited but must be corrected without retreat.
His remarks come amid an intensifying chorus of criticism from opposition leaders and former allies. At a recent convention of the African Democratic Congress, former interior minister Rauf Aregbesola described the government’s “Renewed Hope” agenda as a “classic scam” and called for the president’s resignation.
Other prominent figures, including former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and ex-Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi, have also accused the administration of deepening economic hardship, with Atiku arguing in a televised interview that the government had failed to ease Nigerians’ burdens.
The presidency has responded sharply. In a statement, Tinubu’s media adviser, Sunday Dare, dismissed Atiku’s recent television appearance as “disjointed” and lacking substance, accusing him of offering “no framework, no roadmap” beyond personal ambition.
That line was echoed more bluntly by Nyesom Wike, the minister of the federal capital territory, who described Atiku as a “serial failure” and challenged him to compare his record in office with ongoing infrastructure projects in Abuja.
“We have been in office for less than three years, yet the transformation is clear,” Wike said during a project inspection tour. “Nigerians would laugh at anyone suggesting nothing is being done.”
The minister also dismissed reports of a strengthening opposition coalition involving figures such as Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Nasir El-Rufai, arguing that it posed little threat to the ruling party ahead of the 2027 elections.
For his part, Tinubu urged adherence to democratic institutions, warning against what he described as “noise-making” politics and calling for respect for judicial authority. “We cannot submit to disobedience of a lawful order of a court,” he said.
Yet beneath the rhetoric of resilience lies a growing political contest, with the administration seeking to defend its reform record while opposition voices attempt to channel public discontent into a broader electoral challenge.
As the 2027 cycle begins to take shape, Thursday’s exchanges underscored a familiar dynamic in Nigerian politics: a presidency doubling down on reform in the face of hardship, and an opposition increasingly willing to frame that hardship as evidence of failure.
