Femi Majekodunmi: Defections to APC Underscore Tinubu’s Wisdom, Diligence
Chief Femi Majekodunmi, an All Progressives Congress chieftain from Ogun State, says the wave of defections to the ruling party underscores President Bola Tinubu’s wisdom, diligence, and administrative competence. He commends the president for taking bold decisions to stabilise the economy and tackle longstanding challenges since assuming office two and a half years ago. Majekodunmi assesses the administration’s reforms, economic policies, and political realignments, while also reflecting on governance at the federal and state levels. Bennett Oghifo presents excerpts:
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, at a recent book launch in Abuja, described the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the worst in the history of Nigeria. Does that reflect the current situation of the country?
Definitely, that is not true. There are many indicators, worldwide now, recognising the efforts of the President in improving the economic situation of the country. World Bank has spoken. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has spoken, that the economy is improving. The administration, when it concerns the micro-economy of this country, of course, the main problem that affects the common man is still there, but with the improvement going on, the indices are showing improvements. We expect all these things would positively affect the common man later. The common man is definitely going to benefit. Many of the higher prices of food items are going down, gradually; though probably, slowly, they are going down. To say Tinubu is the worst he has seen is very uncharitable. Like I said earlier, it is not true.
How has Nigerians fared in the last two and half years of the administration of President Tinubu?
Well, Tinubu did what many, if not all past leaders, feared to do. He has come out boldly by removing fuel subsidy. It was like a calamity for the country, especially considering prices of commodities and so on, at that time, that went up almost immediately beyond the reach of the common man. It was bad. But then, when we considered it all, the fuel subsidy could not continue the way it was. To me, Tinubu took the bull by the horns. I believe, it is the only way we can improve many things in this country. That is the way he has started. And giving him more time, we would see far, far better results we didn’t imagine. There is no doubt Tinubu is a seasoned administrator, an experienced politician, who did a lot in Lagos and, by extension, doing almost replicating the same achievements in Nigeria as a whole. And many achievements are being recorded. He is a silent operator. He doesn’t make noise. The way he is tackling situations and improving the economy, he would succeed, in no time.
Don’t you think the administration is pushing Nigerians too hard with the introduction of new tax reforms?
I believe the new tax reforms are just what to be expected because it means the President, in this case, means well and determined to improve the economy. Solid, veritable tax system is extremely necessary. It is part of the concommitant of governance, and people should understand this. And from what we are hearing or, from what we are seeing, the new tax policy would benefit the common man than before. The common man will pay less. And I understand it is already happening. Tax being deducted from the low income people has reduced. And probably, with time, more benefits would accrue to them. Again, we need to give Tinubu more time. People should realise that he has just started about two and half years ago, and he is working hard. His team, the economic committee, is working hard to carry out his policies to the letter. Meanwhile, we have no cause to doubt his sincerity, that he is going to do wonders, if all these approaches.
Has the government justified the benefits of fuel subsidy removal?
Time matters. But the way he has started, the way he is doing it, the results we are receiving show that things will be better, to be justified, because many goodies would accrue to the benefits of this country, and eventually, to the common man. What we have now is that Nigeria has more money to spend but it hasn’t reached the common man. What the common man sees is inflation. Of course, what you see now is that, inflation is falling. With time, it would reduce inflation, life would be more buoyant than what we have now. The economy is still terrible when you consider the common man.
Are the governors doing enough with the humongous monies that they are receiving from the Federation Account?
When you have huge money is like a problem, and that is what I see with many of these governors. Such huge money is not meant to be distributed to people, either poor or the common man. They are supposed to be used, starting with their concerted plans to organise the expenditure of this money which is not really there. They have to do many things immediately, not be in a hurry. And the people are agitated, they know, they hear about huge money that is coming.
And they still believe that they are not getting enough that is accruing to them, as far as this money is concerned. One should expect the governors to consider the yearnings of the people and do the needful the way the President has directed this money to be expended, because the trust is still to the benefit of the people. And that is to say, yes, a good job has been done, as far, as this country is concerned. And that is to say that the people have been benefitting from this largesse.
How would you rate the performance of the Ogun State Governor?
When Governor Dapo Abiodun started, nobody was sure of what he would do. He started like any new governor who has just been elected. But, gradually, Abiodun has been fantastic with the way he has been carrying out the administration of Ogun State. He has really done well and he is still doing well. He brought a lot of seriousness into the job. Initially, we saw him as somebody who promised to develop every aspect of Ogun State which we thought it was not possible. But he has done a lot, giving all the impression that it is possible. I believe God is with him. I believe he has enough money to do a lot, because he has done a lot.
He has done more than any governor in Nigeria, except probably Lagos that has far, far more than the ordinary. I consider all the sectors, road infrastructure, health, education, security, etc. You will find security and you will see Abiodun and his administration leading many states. He started from the COVID-19 pandemic period. He is a leader in solving many, many problems, in bringing succour to the suffering of the people. And relentlessly, he still goes ahead, doing good to the people of Ogun State. Yes, people are happy with him. Whatever he wants, you can see many people of Ogun State want him. Politically, again, he has shown to be a good politician. He knows how to make people happy to the best of his ability. He has about less than two years in office, he is still very energetic. He is still working hard, promising to do more. We should not forget that somebody who keeps promise, and when he promises he keeps his promise. He has done well.
Are all these defections to the APC sure bet of victory for the party in the coming 2027 general elections?
The type of defections we have seen from other parties, I believe it is the first of its kind, not only in Nigeria but in every part of the world. It underscores Tinubu’s greatness, Tinubu’s wisdom, Tinubu’s administrative knowledge and extreme diligence more than any other leader or politician you can compare Tinubu with.
And what baffles people with, is the way he gets it done. Silently, he is really a silent operator. And most of these problems when he gets to solving them it does so, without any noise, without destabilising the system. You can see every other person, the latest we have is, out of 36 governors, APC has 30 governors to its side now. That is marvellous. It is unprecedented. So, the praise, the honour is to Tinubu with God assisting him. There is no doubt about this.
What are the tangible achievements of Tinubu’s administration to deserve a second term?
From all we have seen, Tinubu deserves a second term. If you are going to reel them out one-by-one, they are so many. Let us start from the most controversial one; fuel subsidy removal. All economic indicators pointed to it, then. From the subsidy removal that the government had no reasons for subsidising because too many problems were brought about by this subsidy. It caused more problems than just what the pessimists thought he could not do. He solved so many problems for us. He said that subsidy must be removed. The problem had been when and how? How do you prevent people from suffering? Tinubu went ahead and got it done, because it had to be done for many, many reasons. Having done it, he is tackling the problems now. I am sure when he did it, he never missed it. But the way he is solving the problems now, one can see that it is a matter for a short time, not a long time. Problems have been solved and life is becoming a little bit better. Things are getting better. They might not be much, but it has been going on, gradually, considering all the benefits that are accruable from the stoppage of multi-currency policy whereby we have different exchange rates. This is no more. Consider the issue of security, a lot has happened. A lot is still being done. We have seen that the intervention of Trump of the US might be a blessing in disguise. It is already happening. The fear of Trump has been put to rest. One can see that, Trump himself, by extension, US government, have seen that they are getting the correct picture of what is happening. And they have been patient with us, coupled with concerted efforts in assisting Nigeria to stop banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and all these terrible things that have been happening to us as a people, not only in the North, but almost everywhere. When we consider all that is going on, by Tinubu’s administration and the type of assistance we have been getting from American government and other Western countries, they seem to not only better, but stable. It would come to a situation whereby it would become a thing of the past.
