A former member of the house of representatives, Usman Bugaje, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has failed to solve any of the challenges it inherited.
Speaking on Daily Politics, a Trust TV programme, on Thursday, Bugaje said Tinubu’s government is prioritising politics over governance at a time when Nigerians are demanding results.
“There are complaints, not just in the north, including Lagos, the base of the president,” he said.
“It is unfair to get into politicking when you have not effectively delivered your mandate. There will be time for politics, but this is the time to deliver.”
Bugaje questioned whether the Tinubu administration has delivered on the promises it made during the 2023 elections’ campaign.
He said the government has yet to tackle critical national challenges, including insecurity, poverty, and human capital development, which, according to him, are fundamental to the country’s progress.
“These are the questions that are being raised, and this is exactly why the point is being made that rather than spending money in politicking — you know, putting up billboards all over the place and running all manners of campaigns — you would rather concentrate on the job for which you have been elected,” the former lawmaker said.
“This is the second year, or the end of the second year, and there is hardly anything to show for it.
When asked if opposition figures talking about a 2027 coalition are distracting the government, Bugaje said the talks are a response to the government’s poor performance.
“I think they are reacting to the emptiness of this particular regime. Basically, they are beginning to get ready because this government is not performing,” he said.
“If, for example, from its inception two years ago, it solved the problem of electricity, it solved the problem of poverty, it solved the problem of insecurity, everybody would have been quiet by now — basically praising the government or at least giving it time to see how far it can go.
“The government has failed and not delivered on any of the problems it found on the ground.
“I cannot remember if there is any one single problem that this government has solved since inception.”
On Monday, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the former special adviser on political matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, said Tinubu was “genuinely isolated”.
“The president really is genuinely isolated, whether it’s by choice or by circumstances we don’t understand,” he told Arise TV.
“The bottom line is he ought to be available to a lot more of the people that he has trusted, either to run ministries or departments or to advise him. And he isn’t. And that’s a problem for the country.”
