2027: Ignore opposition, judge Tinubu’s administration by performance — Uzodimma urges Ambassadors

As the nation prepares for frenzied political campaigns, a prelude to the conduct of the 2027 general elections, Imo State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has appealed to foreign ambassadors to adjudge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu based on his achievements in office and not the narratives that will come from leading figures of the opposition political parties.

The Imo State governor, who incidentally is the Director General of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, one of the platforms that will drive the campaigns of President Tinubu, made the appeal on Monday at an interactive session between the Forum of APC Governors and the foreign ambassadors.

Checks revealed that the Independent National Electoral Commission will officially lift the ban on campaigns for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on August 19, 2026.

Further checks revealed that the APC will conduct its presidential convention on May 23.

Addressing the gathering of foreign ambassadors, Senator Uzodimma noted that what would be read about the ruling party in the next few months would be gloomy pictures of the state of the economy and security challenges, as against verifiable evidence of the landmark achievements of the Tinubu administration.

He urged the ambassadors to take such narratives with a pinch of salt.

He said, “I will address one final matter briefly, because it is part of the landscape your governments are reading.

“Reform produces political opposition. That is the nature of democratic systems. When entrenched interests are disrupted, those who were benefiting from the prior arrangement do not retire quietly.

“They contest. They mount narrative campaigns. They predict failure with a fervour proportional to what they have lost. Some of what your governments will read about Nigeria in the coming months will reflect that contestation more than it reflects the underlying data.

“I would simply ask you to weigh the noise against the verifiable record and to trust your own attachés’ assessments over what circulates in the more excitable corners of social media. The administration is not asking you to take its word. The data is in the public domain.

“The IMF is doing its work. The World Bank is doing its work. Fitch and Moody’s are doing theirs. The investors are voting with their capital, and they have voted up 55 per cent on the Nigerian stock market in less than five months. We are content to be judged on outcomes.”

The Chairman of the PGF justified the tough economic policies of the APC-led federal government such as the removal of subsidy on fuel and a single window for sourcing of foreign exchange, submitting that such tough policies and the attendant pains were meant to block financial leakages.

He said, ‘The trajectory of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one of foundational repair, followed by visible signs of economic recovery.

“Most of what I will mention in this address flows from two reform policies announced in the first hours of this administration, in May of 2023. These are the removal of the petroleum subsidy and allowing the value of the Naira to be determined by market forces, or simply floating the Naira.

“Those two decisions can be described as the hinge on which everything has since turned. If you understand them, you would understand the policy direction of this government. And if you understand the policy direction, you can align your country’s engagement with Nigeria in ways that will significantly increase both your impact and your returns.

“Let me begin with the subsidy removal, because I think it has not been sufficiently understood, even within Nigeria, for what it truly was.

“For decades, the petroleum subsidy regime in Nigeria functioned as the single largest organised corruption pipeline in our public finances. It was not only an economic distortion; it was an extraction system. Subsidies were claimed on imaginary volumes of petrol. Huge volumes of imported subsidised petrol were rerouted across porous borders to neighbouring countries. Allocations were inflated. Receipts were manufactured to cover the scam. A small network of cartels, middlemen, and well-placed officials grew wealthy on the haemorrhaging of the national treasury. Successive governments knew this. Successive governments commissioned reports about it. The Bretton Woods Institutions, namely the IMF and the World Bank, advised against its continuation. Yet, successive governments left the regime in place because dismantling it carried an immediate political cost. To his credit, President Tinubu dismantled it on his first day in office.

“Consider what that single act accomplished. The corruption associated with the subsidy regime accounted for the majority of high-impact federal corruption in this country.

“Independent estimates put the figure at well over sixty per cent of organised graft in the federal apparatus. Removing the subsidy did not reduce that corruption by some incremental margin.

“It eliminated the channel itself. With one policy stroke, a structure that had absorbed trillions of naira annually over decades was closed off. Some leaders stop at giving speeches about fighting corruption, but President Tinubu shut down the biggest corruption avenue with the announcement of just one policy.

“I invite you to weigh that achievement against any other anti-corruption measure taken on the African continent in the past quarter of a century.”

Responding on behalf of the diplomatic community, European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, said international partners viewed Nigeria as “a country of opportunity” and acknowledged the growing importance of state governments in addressing development challenges.

“We always try to align our projects with the federal government’s strategy, with the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Mignot said.

He added that governors often provided more direct responses to challenges such as insecurity, poverty, humanitarian crises and unemployment because of their closeness to citizens.

“And when it comes to boosting the promising economic development that we have observed in the last few years in Nigeria at federal and state levels, governors are also key political stakeholders,” he said.

Mignot also praised Nigerian officials for maintaining open and respectful engagement with foreign partners on democracy, governance and the business climate.

“As far as the EU is concerned, you can count on us to be a reliable and constant partner,” he added.

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said the engagement underscored Nigeria’s commitment to stronger cooperation with development partners and the diplomatic community.

Bagudu said the Renewed Hope Agenda was focused on economic recovery, inclusive growth, improved governance and sustainable development.

“Nigeria deeply values the longstanding support and partnership of the diplomatic community, as well as development partners across various sectors,” he said