The presidency has advised opposition figures and dissenting members within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to defer any attempts to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership until the 2027 elections.
This came as a reaction to mounting political tensions and criticisms directed at the President amid ongoing economic and political challenges in the country.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), on Sunday, presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare said that President Tinubu is fully committed to addressing Nigeria’s current economic difficulties and improving the welfare of its citizens.
He made it clear that the President’s focus remains firmly on governance rather than the growing opposition or the prospect of the next election cycle.
According to Dare, “This is 2025, not 2027. Let those who want to test their popularity with Nigerians wait for the next election.”
Dare also reacted to what he described as a politically motivated assembly of Tinubu’s opponents, including some former allies within the APC, who criticised the President’s leadership amid growing economic and political challenges in Nigeria.
“While President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria was away in faraway Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, his political opponents, detractors, opposition elements, and pseudo-friends unfolded their Machiavellian inclinations,” Dare wrote.
The gathering, which featured prominent opposition figures and APC members now at odds with Tinubu’s administration, was described by Dare as a meeting fueled by “ill-will,” with participants “heating up the polity” and promoting undemocratic sentiments.
“Expectedly, it was a gathering convened to further spread ill-will. Nothing new came out of the gathering different from the opposition script we are used to,” he stated.
Despite what he called the “early combat” initiated by Tinubu’s critics, Dare emphasised that the President remains focused on governance rather than political distractions.
“The clouds are beginning to clear. The stage sets soon. The combat begins. Until then, President Tinubu, an avowed democrat, remains undistracted and unperturbed. The fight is ahead. Not now,” he declared.
According to Dare, Tinubu’s sole priority at this time is addressing Nigeria’s pressing economic challenges and improving the lives of its citizens.
“The only conversation he wants to have now is how to improve the lives of Nigerian citizens and constructive discourse on building a resilient economy,” he noted.
In a direct message to those eyeing the 2027 elections, Dare advised political aspirants to wait for the appropriate time to test their popularity at the polls, stressing that President Tinubu remains committed to leadership, not electioneering.
Apart from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a PDP chieftain, former governors Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), were some prominent Nigerians who criticised President Tinubu at a National Conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria, in Abuja.
In a separate post, Dare put Nigerians on notice on the implications of the ongoing tariff war between the United States of America and Canada.
He warned that the fallout will reverberate around the world.
“Nigeria must pay close attention to the Tariff War between USA and Canada and of course a number of North Atlantic Countries. There will be fall outs that will reverberate around the world.
“The WTO will be instrumental in helping to manage the impacts of this seeming new world order,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who lambasted President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its divisive governance style and alleged penchant for promoting a “snatch and grab” agenda.
Reacting, Atiku who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, accused the Tinubu administration of deepening class, ethnic, and religious divisions in the country, while undermining democratic institutions.
“This is the first government in the history of Nigeria that will put Nigerians on Band A or Band C on the cadre of access to social infrastructure,” Atiku noted.
Atiku condemned Dare’s remarks, describing them as “unbecoming and a stark attack on the collective impression of our hard-won democracy and the fundamental human rights that it guarantees.”
He also took issue with Dare’s comments on international trade, particularly concerning tariffs and Nigeria’s economic relations with global partners, accusing the presidency of making “careless remarks” that could jeopardise Nigeria’s diplomatic and trade relations.
“We therefore urge the Tinubu government to unite and heal the nation and desist from making careless remarks about other countries or the patriotism of other Nigerian people,” Atiku said.
The former vice president also called on the Tinubu administration to practice what it preaches by embracing the “Nigeria First” ideals instead of promoting self-entitled and primordial sentiments.
“It is a contradiction in terms that the Tinubu administration, which came into power on the philosophy of self-right to rule, will mock Nigerians on matters of patriotism,” Atiku noted.