Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former Special Adviser on Political Affairs to President Bola Tinubu, has strongly criticised the current administration for failing to deliver meaningful improvements in governance and the quality of life of Nigerians.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm programme on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned from his role in the Office of the Vice President, said the Tinubu administration has not met the expectations many had when it assumed office.
“Clearly, the Tinubu administration has failed expectations that it was going to radically improve the quality of governance,” the former spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) stated.
He argued that governance should not be measured only by international statistics or economic ratings, but more importantly, by how citizens are living.
“They will tell you they are doing great with all the World Bank statistics, all the international ratings and everything, but that’s not the only measures you use to measure a government; you measure by the way citizens live, and if that is the yardstick by which we are going to measure this administration, then clearly, the Tinubu administration has failed expectations that it was going to radically improve the quality of governance of President Buhari,” he added.
Baba-Ahmed urged President Tinubu to take decisive action against corruption and insecurity, and to make tangible investments in poverty alleviation, infrastructure, and social development.
He also criticised the way funds are managed across government levels, particularly referencing the financial allocations to governors.
“So much waste, so much abuse of resources and corruption going on,” he said.
He emphasised the need for the president to exert his constitutional powers to ensure better accountability, especially among governors within the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Baba-Ahmed further noted that the removal of petrol subsidy by the Tinubu administration has adversely affected the lives of many Nigerians, deepening economic hardship.
In conclusion, he called for increased accountability and improved governance across all three tiers of government to steer the country away from further decline.
