Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu pledged not to seek a second term if he failed to improve electricity supply in Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News, Onanuga said the President’s 2022 campaign remarks had “been taken out of context”.
According to him, Tinubu’s statement on electricity was conditional and not a firm commitment to forgo re-election.
Mr Onanuga explained that Tinubu has demonstrated commitment to reforming the power sector since assuming office, citing the signing of the Electricity Act, which allows states to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity independently.
He also mentioned government efforts to tackle estimated billing through increased meter distribution and other interventions aimed at improving service delivery.
While admitting that electricity supply has not yet reached the level envisioned by the administration, Onanuga attributed the challenges to longstanding issues such as gas shortages, legacy debts owed to gas suppliers, and an outdated transmission infrastructure.
He maintained that the Federal Government remains focused on addressing these challenges and improving power generation and distribution across the country.
A public affairs analyst, Marcel Ngogbehei, has accused opposition politicians of turning Nigeria's political parties into personal vehicles for their presidential ambitions, alleging that they routinely take over existing party structures, sideline founding members and abandon the platforms when their electoral calculations fail.
He made the allegations in a statement on Saturday, while reacting to a recent Abuja High Court judgment sacking the African Democratic Congress, ADC, leadership under former Senate President, David Mark.
DAILY POST reports that the ADC has already appealed the judgment.
Reacting, Ngogbehei said Nigeria must move away from a political culture in which established parties are taken over by powerful politicians, leaving their original members struggling for control of the organisations they helped establish.
He cited the political journeys of former Vice-President and ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as examples of what he described as the instability and opportunism characterising opposition politics.
"He maintained that the ADC crisis was particularly instructive, given that the party was adopted by opposition heavyweights seeking to challenge the APC, only to become engulfed in leadership disputes and litigation over the legitimacy of its leadership structure."
He argued that, unlike opposition party leaders, President Bola Tinubu's political experience demonstrated a commitment to building enduring political structures.
He recalled Tinubu's role in the development of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, Action Congress, AC, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and, the formation of the APC.
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on Saturday accused the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar of listening to ill-advice from voodoo economists to restore the fuel subsidy.
Speaking during President Bola Tinubu's presidential campaign in the Ikwerre area of Rivers State, Shettima said the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has gone into political irrelevance.
The vice president also disclosed that some political charlatans from the opposition are trying to demonise the president.
According to Shettima: "Winston Churchill, the onetime British Prime Minister, once said truth is so precious that it has to be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies; hence, it's not only amazing but to define as heartbreaking that political charlatans on the other side of the divide are making efforts to demonise President Tinubu instead of celebrating him.
"Atiku Abubakar, with a certificate in hygiene from a Kano School, is intellectually malnourished and was ill-advised by some voodoo economist to restore fuel subsidy, and my friend, Peter Obi, has gone into political irrelevance."
Shettima also described the president as a decent man, stressing that Nigeria's economy has witnessed a significant improvement since he assumed office.
"I dare say without any fear that Tinubu is a decent man. When he attained the mantle of leadership some three and a half years ago, our economy was on the verge of collapse; we were on our way to Kinshasa. Instead of kicking the ball down the road, instead of demonising his predecessor, the president had the moral courage and conviction to take the bull by the horns," he added.