‘Lazy analysis, intellectual fraud’ — presidency rejects The Economist’s claim Nigerians dislike Tinubu
The Presidency has rejected a recent report by The Economist which claimed there is growing public discontent with President Bola Tinubu’s administration ahead of the 2027 election.
Sunday Dare, special adviser to the president on media and public communications, said The Economist’s claim “smells of opposition and is riddled with inconsistencies.”
The Economist, in a report published on October 1, titled “Nigerians dislike their president, but may re-elect him anyway,” said Tinubu could win the 2027 election despite public discontent.
The report cited the worsening security crisis, the impact of the government’s economic reforms and the presence of popular political challengers as factors that could affect Tinubu’s re-election bid.
It also said the president’s apparent confidence did not necessarily reflect widespread satisfaction with his administration but was linked to Nigeria’s complex electoral dynamics.
“Incumbents, with access to the ruling-party machinery and plentiful cash to dole out goodies, have tended to have an advantage in recent Nigerian elections,” The Economist stated.
However, Dare said Nigeria’s economic re-engineering under Tinubu was unstoppable, accusing foreign observers of relying on sensational claims about the country.
“In their rush to paint a picture of impending doom, structural paralysis, and widespread citizen despair, these overseas observers routinely traffic in sensationalist half-truths,” he said.
Dare said claims that Nigerians “hate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” ignored what he described as the challenges inherited by the administration.
“This is not merely analytical laziness; it is an intellectual fraud. It completely overlooks the monumental, Herculean task of national salvage undertaken by the Tinubu administration since May 2023,” he said.
“President Tinubu did not inherit a functioning, well-oiled state; he inherited a broken economic ecosystem on the precipice of total sovereign bankruptcy.”
Dare said successive petrol subsidy regimes had operated for decades as a major drain on the country’s finances, while multiple foreign exchange windows had contributed to corruption and hindered legitimate businesses.
He also said the country’s debt service-to-revenue ratio had reached about 95 per cent, leaving government finances severely constrained, while years of underinvestment had weakened critical national assets, security infrastructure, energy systems and other infrastructure.
According to him, Tinubu chose to confront these challenges rather than postpone them.
“By decisively terminating the burdensome fuel subsidy on Day One, the administration stopped the bleeding of national resources, saving the federation trillions of Naira and redirecting funds toward productive capital development and fiscal sustainability,” Dare said.
He also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, saying its implementation had enabled hundreds of thousands of indigent students to pursue higher education without the burden of tuition fees.
“Walk into the lecture halls of federal and state universities, and you will find students and relieved parents whose educational dreams have been rescued by NELFUND,” he said.
Dare further pointed to wage reforms, increased financial independence for local governments and interventions targeting farmers as evidence of the administration’s impact.
“Speak with public servants whose take-home monthly pay has been elevated by progressive wage reforms. Speak with local government chairmen and community leaders who finally have the financial independence to execute localised projects. Engage farmers witnessing targeted interventions,” he said.
“These citizens recognise a leader doing the heavy, foundational lifting — someone cleaning up decades of accumulated governance debris. They know that the current reforms are the bitter medicine required to cure a chronic national ailment.”
