Pres. Tinubu doing good for Nigeria — Reno Omokri

Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, insisting they are yielding results.

Speaking on the Honest Bunch podcast, Omokri argued that perceptions of poor governance under Tinubu are based on opinion, not fact. “One million opinions cannot equal one fact,” he said, pushing back against criticisms that the president’s policies have worsened living conditions.

He highlighted that Nigeria’s total debt has decreased from $108 billion to $94 billion since Tinubu assumed office, crediting the reduction to the removal of fuel subsidies.

He also noted that 78% of states in the country have also seen their debt burdens fall.

Omokri also claimed that with more funds now available in the federation account, many states have significantly increased their allocations, some by as much as 300%, leading to more consistent salary payments to civil servants.

He dismissed criticisms from political opponents, who questioned why Nigerians protested fuel price hikes under previous administrations but appear silent under Tinubu, despite the Naira’s sharp depreciation.

Omokri argued that the previous dollar exchange rates were artificial, maintained by costly subsidies that had no economic justification. “It was all political,” he said.

He said:

“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office, Nigeria was owing $108 billion. Today, if I’m lying, I pay you $1 million. Nigeria is owing $94 billion. So we’ve paid off $14 billion. Our debt has gone lower.

“And it’s not just the federal government, the states, their debts have reduced. Most states, not all states, I think about 78% of the states, their debts have reduced. Why? Because by removing fuel subsidy, there is now more funds to be shared in the federation account.

“And so people now, the states, have you ever heard, are you now hearing of states not paying salaries anymore? They are paying salaries, why? Because Bola Ahmed Tinubu has increased their allocation by 200%, some by 300%, some by 200%, but at least by double. And it’s not just that. A lot of people like Peter Obi, I mean, very unintelligently, he was telling Nigerians that when dollar was N216, you protested. But now that is N1,500, you’re not protesting. I mean, Peter Obi shows that he’s a trader, not a leader. Dollar was never N216.

“It was never N155, it was never N145. That is not what the price was. It was subsidised. Go back and fact check me. That was why it was that at that price. The federal government was spending $1.5 billion every month to subsidize the Naira at that particular level.

“And the reason why they were doing that was not for economic reasons. It was for political reasons, because each president did not want to be seen as having a Naira that was so high that they would say, okay, because Nigerians don’t understand economics. They just understand Eba, rice and salt.” [CONTINUE READING HERE]>>>>