A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Obidike Chukwuebuka, has warned that Nigerians may regret it if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu loses the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the country needs continuity to consolidate the reforms of the present administration.
Obidike, who is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clarivo Holdings Limited, made the remarks in an interview with Vanguard, where he argued that Tinubu inherited a difficult economy in May 2023 but had taken what he described as “bold and painful decisions” to tackle longstanding economic problems.
He pointed to the removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange reforms, increased revenue mobilisation, student loans, infrastructure development, local government financial autonomy, healthcare reforms and interventions in the oil and gas sector as some of the major developments recorded under the administration.
According to him, Nigerians should not judge the administration solely by the immediate economic hardship, but should also consider the structural changes being introduced.
Obidike maintained that the removal of petrol subsidy was one of the administration’s major economic decisions, arguing that it brought an end to a subsidy regime that had consumed trillions of naira in public funds.
He also linked the subsidy removal to the foreign exchange reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying the measures had helped improve the country’s fiscal position.
The APC chieftain further highlighted the increase in revenue shared among the federal, state and local governments through the Federation Account.
He said the rise in Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements had expanded the fiscal space available to states and local governments, helping many of them meet salary, pension, infrastructure and other obligations.
Obidike also singled out the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as another major intervention of the Tinubu administration.
He said the initiative had provided Nigerian students from financially disadvantaged families with access to structured, government-backed education loans.
He further noted that the university system had avoided the prolonged nationwide disruptions associated with previous Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strikes during the current administration.
On infrastructure, Obidike, who is also Chairman of Bidiks Nigeria Limited, listed several federal road projects he said were ongoing across the country.
Among them are the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road, Enugu-Onitsha Expressway and the 9th Mile-Oturkpo-Makurdi Road linking Enugu through Benue.
He also mentioned the Kano-Daura-Kongolam Road, stretching through Kano, Jigawa and Katsina towards the Niger Republic border, as well as the Calabar-Abuja Trans-Sahara Superhighway, which is expected to link Cross River, Ebonyi, Benue, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory.
Obidike, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Clarivo Oil and Gas, described local government autonomy as another significant development under Tinubu.
He referenced the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgment affirming the constitutional right of local governments to receive their allocations directly from the Federation Account.
He argued that local government autonomy, fiscal reforms and other institutional changes provided sufficient grounds for Nigerians to return Tinubu to power in 2027.
Looking ahead to the 2027 election, Obidike said the central question for Nigerians should be whether they want continuity in the ongoing reform process or another change of direction.
He argued that some of the benefits of the reforms may take years to become fully visible because they involve restructuring institutions, changing fiscal arrangements and attracting long-term investment.
While urging Nigerians to re-elect Tinubu, Obidike said he believed the country could not afford to lose the president at this stage.
For him, Nigeria needs continuity, stability and consolidation, adding that it would be a “fatal mistake” if Tinubu was not re-elected in 2027.
