Alake: Tinubu Put His Re-election Bid in Jeopardy to Restructure Badly Damaged Economy 

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has said that President Bola Tinubu put his re-election bid on the line to restructure the “badly damaged” economy.

Alake, who is also the spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 presidential election, said the administration’s decision to take difficult measures were necessary to rescue Nigeria from long standing economic distortions.

The minister stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during an interactive session with journalists.

He said that previous governments were aware of the reforms required to correct the country’s economic challenges but often avoided them because of their potential political consequences.

Alake posited that at a time Tinubu assumed office, there was no shortcut to restructuring an economy that had been badly damaged by years of policy inconsistencies and reluctance by successive administrations to take difficult decisions.

While admitting that the reforms had brought significant short-term difficulties, he said they were necessary to prevent the economy from sinking deeper into crisis.

The minister emphasised that successive administrations had recognised the need to end the subsidy regime but were forced to postpone the decision because of fears of public backlash which could affect their electoral fortune.

His words: “Somebody came and decided to swallow the bitter pill, to take the bullets on behalf of Nigerians. You must go through the pain, and then the gains will start to manifest.”

Alake said every major policy had a gestation period involving formulation, mobilisation of resources, implementation and monitoring, adding that the benefits of government policies could not always be expected immediately.

He also defended the subsidy removal against claims that ordinary Nigerians were its major beneficiaries, arguing that the biggest beneficiaries were fuel cartels and wealthy individuals who consumed significantly more petroleum products.

Alake noted that the stiff opposition to the removal of petrol subsidy was expected, adding that some beneficiaries of the subsidy regime had built businesses around the system.

He added: “Subsidising fuel meant that households with several vehicles received greater benefits than poorer Nigerians who owned no vehicles.

“When the fuel subsidy was removed, did you think that they would fold their arms and be looking? No! They will fight back.”

The minister also rejected calls for the government to reverse the reforms, insisting that Nigeria needed consistency rather than another economic reset.

Alake said the experience demonstrated that difficult reforms, when consistently implemented, could produce significant long-term results.

According to him, “What Nigeria needs is consistency. We don’t need a reset now. Because the reforms have come. They are in place. And they are moving ahead.”

Alake recalled the experience of Lagos State under President Tinubu when he was governor, arguing that similar reforms had helped transform the state’s finances.

He further recalled that Lagos generated about N600 million monthly in internally generated revenue when Tinubu assumed office in 1999, while the state’s civil service wage bill was more than N1 billion.

The minister added that the administration subsequently embarked on measures to block leakages and improve revenue collection, including the computerisation and biometric verification of the state payroll.

“The exercise saved about N350 million in its first month by identifying fictitious workers and irregularities on the payroll,” he said.

Alake dismissed criticisms that the benefits of the reforms had not reached ordinary Nigerians, saying some interventions were already producing direct and indirect benefits across different sectors.

He cited the student loan scheme as an example, stressing that students and families paying tertiary education fees could benefit from reduced financial pressure.

On the  controversies surrounding the composition of the campaign council of the ruling party, Alake described it as an internal mechanism of the ruling party rather than an issue of direct concern to Nigerians.

He urged the media to focus more on the party’s manifesto, policy proposals and campaign messaging than on the internal structure of its campaign council.

Alake noted: “The public requires what is the messaging of the campaign, what the manifesto, the policies, the projections and all that. Not the internal constitution of the campaign council.”