One Month Discount on Petrol: From Reactive Policies to Flawed Outcomes! The announcement by the APC led Federal Government offering a 30-day discount on price of petrol to relieve the acute hardship and hunger caused Nigerians by its unplanned removal of subsidy can only be described as another very reactive and confused approach to governance that is now the culture of the Tinubu Government. I had delayed in reacting to the announcement just to give the benefit of doubt and watch the outcome of the policy. Now, having assessed the outcomes, the policy is a substitution of political optics for sound policy. As Nigerians will recall, President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, most carelessly removed fuel subsidy without any consultation or proper assessment of the negative impacts of such policies on our economy particularly on the livelihood of ordinary Nigerians. Moreover, the careless removal of fuel subsidy was followed by other very badly sequenced policies such as the floating of the naira and tax reforms, all implemented in a very disorganized, incompetent and insensitive manner in addition to using three budgets at the same time with the attendant lack of transparency and accountability. Collectively, these policies stoked inflation in all sectors, pushing in most cases unbearable price hikes across board which placed severe shocks and other adverse consequences on Nigerians. Expectedly, the outcomes are what they are- increasing multi-dimensional poverty, skyrocketing costs of goods and services, shrinking opportunities, exit of many businesses, mounting unemployment, disturbing insecurity, widening inequality, forced migration of our youths and general decline in the well-being of Nigerians. Most unfortunately, rather than engage in detailed and published regulatory impact assessment of their reactive policies, the President Bola Tinubu’s led government has again demonstrated their well-known incompetence and insensitivity to governance. With a detailed and published regulatory impact assessment of policies, a competent government would have pursued robust and sincere engagements and consultations with key stakeholders and ordinary Nigerians to recraft and implement inclusive and sustainable socio-economic growth strategies and policies. What really does the President Bola Tinubu led government want to achieve with a one-month discount of less than 5% on fuel cost. Will it reduce poverty, unemployment, insecurity, and inequality? Will it increase productivity and exports? Is it a test to ascertain if subsidy should be restored? Is it another political gambit in the face of threats of electoral loss in the 2027 election? Too many questions, no answer!

Building a Better Nigeria Through Service. Yesterday in Lagos, I attended a dinner organised for Lagos NDC candidates and hosted by the Lagos Obidient Movement. I used the occasion to remind the candidates that seeking public office is not about titles, positions, or the privileges associated with them. It is about accepting the responsibility to serve and committing ourselves to building a better Nigeria. Having witnessed the suffering and hardship that our people continue to endure, we must remain conscious of the tremendous responsibility placed in our hands. Nigerians deserve leaders who are accessible, actively engaged, accountable, and willing to lead by example. Our politics must establish a standard for others to follow. It must therefore be founded on competence, character, capacity, compassion, and a genuine commitment to the common good. A better Nigeria is within reach, but achieving it requires leaders who are prepared to lead by example and remain accessible. A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO

Debunking the Phantom Debts and Ecological Loan Fallacy My attention has been drawn to trending claims by the Anambra State Government that my administration left behind inherited debts, including a ₦2 billion ecological loan, contractor liabilities, and unpaid salaries, gratuities, and pensions. This is completely false. We systematically liquidated historical gratuities and arrears dating back several years, amounting to over ₦35 billion. At the point of handover, the state owed nothing in salaries, gratuities, or pensions, nor did we owe anything to any contractor for projects duly executed and certified. The ₦2 billion ecological fund in question was released barely three months before the end of my tenure for the Oko/Umuchiana erosion crisis. Despite pressure to spend the money, I refused, insisting that it should be left for my successor because government is a continuum and the funds were tied to a specific project. The money was therefore left 100 per cent intact in First Bank, in Account No. 2018779464, with a balance of over ₦2.13 billion. It is important to stress that funds tied to specific projects or set aside for particular purposes were not even included in the over ₦75 billion in savings we left behind. If anybody can establish anything to the contrary, I will stop campaigning. -PO

PRESIDENT TINUBU GOES ON HOLIDAY AGAIN President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has once again left Nigeria for another holiday, this time beginning a three-week vacation in Europe. Nigeria is in deep crisis. Nigerians can barely afford food and transportation. Insecurity is ravaging communities, and thousands of children are unable to access education because of insecurity. Just days ago, about 600 Nigerians, predominantly women, children, and the elderly, were reportedly abducted during Juma’at prayers in Niger State. Yet, at this critical moment, the President has left the country for another holiday. According to reports, government expenditure on presidential trips and related travel expenses between June 2023 and April 2026 amounted to about ₦37.64 billion, with the President spending approximately 261 days outside Nigeria. Meanwhile, only ₦36 million was reportedly released to the Federal Ministry of Health in 2025, despite a capital allocation of ₦218 billion, in a country of over 230 million people. This is the calamity befalling our country today. A government that can spend tens of billions on presidential travel while critical sectors remain starved of funds, and Nigerians are asked to endure worsening hardship, must not be allowed to continue. Leadership is about priorities. When citizens cannot feed their families, move safely, access healthcare, send their children to school, or sleep peacefully in their homes, the President should be more concerned about fixing the country than repeatedly leaving it. I look forward to a Nigeria where our President can vacation in Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Cross River State, Bauchi, Ebonyi, and many other destinations across our country. The President of Nigeria should be the chief marketer of Nigeria as a tourism destination, as other comparable countries do. Imagine the economic possibilities if our leaders, celebrities, business communities, and citizens travelled within Nigeria more frequently. Tourism creates jobs. It supports hospitality, transportation, agriculture, entertainment, crafts, and small businesses. It brings investment and foreign exchange and allows communities to benefit directly from their natural and cultural assets. We cannot continue to export our wealth and import our pleasures while our own enormous potential remains neglected. We deserve leadership that puts Nigeria first; leadership that cares and plans for a better Nigeria. That is the kind of leadership that the partnership between H.E. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and me will bring. A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO

Nigeria Has Everything It Needs to Prosper Yesterday, I had the privilege of joining some presidential candidates and their representatives as a guest and panellist at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Our discussion focused on how to rebuild Nigeria and make it work for its resilient, hardworking, and long-suffering people. I reiterated my long-held view that the poverty and hunger Nigerians face today are largely the result of years of mismanagement and corruption by leaders entrusted with our commonwealth. With our vast human and natural resources, Nigeria has no business being associated with extreme poverty and hunger. We have no business importing food when we possess enormous agricultural potential. With the right investment, policies, and political will, agriculture can become one of Nigeria’s greatest sources of wealth. Northern Nigeria’s vast farmland, in particular, can drive major economic transformation. If countries with fewer resources have transformed their agricultural sectors, Nigeria can feed itself, create millions of jobs, and export food to the world. On fuel subsidy removal, I remain committed to the position I took in 2023: the subsidy system was riddled with corruption. My approach was to eliminate the corruption, establish the actual subsidy cost, and then carry out a carefully planned, phased removal. Savings from subsidy removal should have been transparently invested in clearly defined, measurable development priorities, especially agriculture, healthcare, education, poverty reduction, and security. I remain convinced that subsidy removal must deliver real benefits to Nigerians; citizens should not bear higher energy costs while the savings remain unaccounted for or fail to improve their lives. Nigeria must focus its investments on what matters most: food security, healthcare, education, infrastructure, human capital, national security, and unity. Nigeria has all it needs to prosper. What remains is competent, honest, and purposeful leadership that puts the common good above personal interests. A New Nigeria is POssible, and Nigeria will be OK. -PO