Hardship: Tinubu Has Plunged 30m More Nigerians Into Poverty - El-Rufai
Yusuf Oketola
THE immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, has said that the administra on of President Bola Tinubu in the last two years has plunged 30 million more Nigerians into poverty.
El-Rufai while describing the current administra on as ‘an evil government’ added that Tinubu must be stopped from further destroying the country.
He disclosed this during an interview with Channels Television on Sunday.
“The one that is here now, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that we all supported to be president, has been given the opportunity. What are the results?
“We have moved the
exchange rate from N400 to N1,600; 30 million people have fallen into poverty. Agriculture has been destroyed because of stupid policies of making food cheaper through importa on,” he said.
He added, “I am not the only person qualified to call it evil because I know evil when I see it.”
Speaking further, the former governor alleged the Federal Government of empowering bandits by paying them a “monthly allowance,” sending “food to them in the name of non-kine c, describing it as a kissthe-bandits policy.
El-Rufai said the government is providing a so landing for bandits terrorising different parts of the country.
•Accuses FG Of ‘Empowering’ Bandits
He said, “What I will not do is to pay bandits, give them a monthly allowance, or send food to them in the name of non-
kine c. It’s nonsense; we’re empowering bandits.
“It’s not the government of Kaduna State; it’s
a na onal policy driven by the Office of the Naonal Security Adviser, and Kaduna is part of it. Kiss the bandits; that’s
Widespread Backlash Over Tinubu’s ‘No More Corruption’ Stance
Kazeem
Badmus
PRESIDENT Bola
Tinubu is facing a heavy backlash over his claims that his administra on has wiped out corrup on in Nigeria, OSUN DEFENDER reports.
Tinubu, had during a joint press conference with Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, on Monday, on the sidelines on his visit to the country stated that his government’s efforts have reposi oned the country, stamping out corrup on in all facets of na onal life.
His words, “The reforms I’ve embarked upon since I took over in Nigeria have been very impac ul. It was ini ally painful, but today the result is blossoming. We have more money for the economy, and there is no more corrup on.”
The comment came amidst series of reports and expose’s on how Tinubu and several members of his cabinet and the ruling party in extension, have at one me or
•Tunji-Ojo•Betta Edu•Yahaya Bello
the other been accused of corrup on.
Findings by OSUN DEFENDER also revealed that since the incep on of the present administraon, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invesgated cases of alleged corrup on against the President’s men, while various media outlets have published reports alleging them of roles in
corrupt tendencies.
In this report, OSUN DEFENDER chronicles some of the corrup on cases under the Tinubu administra on, which Nigerians have referred to since the ‘no more corrup on’ statement got to the media.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo’s Scandal
OSUN DEFENDER had on January 12, 2024 reported various issues
around the personality and public conduct of Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the incumbent Minister of Interior.
Tunji-Ojo, a former member of the House of Representa ves, has had to ba le issues rela ng to his educa on, contract scandals as well as the factuality of some of his achievements in the ministry.
In December 2023,
news filtered that the Minister’s company, New Planet Project Limited, allegedly got N438.1 million from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Allevia on under suspended minister Be a Edu for consultancy services.
The company was one of the numerous consultants awarded contracts from N3 billion given out
•Continued on Page 2
the new policy.”
The former governor faulted what he described as a policy that rehabilitates bandits rather than making them answer for their crimes.
According to him, the ac on was responsible for the lingering insecurity problem in the country.
He stated, “My posi on has always been [that] the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s kill them all. Let’s bomb them un l they are reduced to nothing, and then the five percent that s ll want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated.
“You do not negoate from the posi on of weakness. You don’t empower your enemy; you don’t give him money to go and buy sophis cated weapons. That is why the insecurity problem has not gone away and will not go away as long as this policy con nues.
“They can deceive, they can cover up, they can do propaganda, but those that live in Katsina, those that live in Zamfara, those that live in Kaduna, those that live in those states, they know what is happening.
“Let the governor or anyone come and deny. When the me comes, we will reveal everything,” the former minister added.
Meanwhile, El-Rufai, during the interview, also accused Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani being behind the attack at the Kaduna African Democra c Congress (ADC) commi ee inaugura on last Saturday.
El-Rufai claimed that there was evidence that the state governor orchestrated the a ack.
He said, “I have evidence; Kaduna State
•Continued on Page 2
•Tinubu
•El-Rufai
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2025
2 News
Widespread Backlash Over Tinubu’s ‘No More Corruption’ Stance
•Continued from front page
by the suspended minister for the Na onal Social Register Contract created for cash transfers and other social investment programmes.
In a document posted by the editor of a media pla orm, Pointblank News, Jackson Ude, TunjiOjo’s New Planet Project Limited was ini ally paid N279 million for verificaon of the list and another N159 million for the same purpose.
A source also told SaharaReporters that the Interior Minister may have got the contract through his former aide and coordinator of the Na onal Programme Manager, Grant For Vulnerable Groups, Thalis Apalowo. Apalowo served as legisla ve aide to Tunji-Ojo while he was represen ng Akoko North Federal cons tuency at the Na onal Assembly.
The emba led Minister, while reac ng to the allega on in an interview on Channels TV said, “I am not a signatory to the company. And actually, I was shocked because the company in ques on was a company where I was a director. About five years ago, I resigned from my directorship.”
Documents of his resigna on from the board of the New Planet Project Limited in 2019, with an official communica on to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), also emerged online a er Tunji-Ojo displayed it on television. However, as at the me of the report, his name was s ll on the CAC website, while his wife, Abimbola Tunji-Ojo, was a person with significant control on the company’s board.
Beyond the contracts, the Minister has also been accused of varying corrupon tendencies, ranging from award of key government jobs to cronies and associates among others.
As of the me of filing this report, neither the EFCC, ICPC nor the Code of Conduct Bureau, which had invited him for invesga on into the ma er has come out with a report on the status of the probes.
Be a Edu-Gate
In January 2024, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Allievia on, Be a Edu was suspended over the alleged diversion of more than 585 million naira ($640,000; £500,000) of public money into a personal bank account.
OSUN DEFENDER learnt that Edu had approved the transfer into a
personal account, which was not in her name, but said it was for the “implementa on of grants to vulnerable groups.”
The funds were meant for grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos States.
Another scandal that rocked Edu’s ministry was the allega on of loo ng of billions of naira from NSIPA by herself and her
cronies, N72.3m for flight ckets to Kogi, and so on.
While Edu was suspended and eased out of the Tinubu administraon, the Edu-gate was one of the major flashpoints of the government in rela on to corrup on and allied ma ers.
Yahaya Bello
Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi State and a staunch associate of the President was on April 18,
2024 declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Bello, who is currently facing criminal charges of separate counts on alleged fraud of N80.2bn and N100bn, during his me in office, was in a tough ba le with the an-gra agency before his eventual surrender.
The medium on March 7, 2025 also reported a
statement credited to an official of the American Interna onal School, Abuja, Nicholas Ojehomon, who told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the former Governor paid a total of $1,606,763.68 in tui on fees for his children, including an advance payment of $845,852 for his young children to be enrolled in the school in the future, alongside other startling revela ons
#EndBadGovernance: Activists Mark One Year Of Crackdown, Demand Justice, Systemic Change
Kazeem Badmus
THE Solidarity Network for Workers’ Rights (SNWR) has renewed calls for jus ce and deeper resistance against what it described as a “loo ng regime,” as ac vists mark the first anniversary of the arrest and deten on of protesters during the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance demonstra ons.
In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Daniel Akande, the group recalled how plainclothes opera ves of the Nigerian Police allegedly invaded a place of worship on September 1, 2024, and arrested him alongside several others in what he called “Gestapo style.”
He said 11 ac vists, including himself, remain vic ms of “state persecuon,” facing treason and terrorism charges they described as fabricated.
Akande accused President Bola Tinubu’s administra on of worsening economic hardship through “neo-liberal policies,” ci ng fuel subsidy removal, infla on, mass unemployment, and what he called a “pov-
erty wage” minimum of ₦70,000.
He further cri cised the students’ loan scheme as “a commercialisa on of educa on,” claiming it excluded working-class youths while poli cians benefi ed.
The statement also referenced reports by Amnesty Interna onal on alleged killings of unarmed protesters by security forces last year, stressing that no officer has been prosecuted.
Akande faulted the la-
bour unions for failing to defend workers, arguing that “the working class has been le voiceless.”
He further condemned lavish government spending, including the reported ₦39 billion renova on of the Interna onal Conference Centre in Abuja, while “workers, pensioners, peasants and farmers sink deeper into poverty.”
The group called for the immediate withdrawal of charges against Omoyele Sowore, a cri c of successive govern-
ments, and for the release of all ac vists facing trials linked to last year’s protests.
SNWR urged workers and students to mobilize around what it described as a socialist alterna ve, advoca ng for the naonaliza on of key sectors under democra c control.
“The struggle against bad governance con nues. Victory lies in unity, organiza on, and socialist transforma on,” Akande declared.
Hardship: Tinubu Has Plunged 30m More...
•Continued from front page opposi on par es in Kaduna State last Saturday.
Governor is behind Saturday’s a acks. I will submit evidence to the IGP and other authori es if they care to inves gate.”
He further lamented that “the policing system has collapsed in Nigeria,” alleging that police opera ves were watching when the opposi on figures came under a ack.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that chaos erupted at the official inauguraon of a transi on commi ee jointly set up by
However, a statement by the Office of the Naonal Security Adviser (ONSA) on Monday, described the allega on as baseless, adding that the ONSA does not coordinate a policy of payments and incen ves to bandits.
“In that interview, he alleged, falsely, that the ONSA coordinates a policy of payments and offers incen ves to bandits. This claim is baseless.
“At no me has the ONSA, or any arm of government under this administra on, engaged in ransom payments or inducements to criminals.
“On the contrary, we have consistently warned Nigerians against paying ransom. El-Rufai’s allegaons are not only false but also contradict verifiable facts on the ground,” the statement signed by Zakari Mijinyawa for the Office of the Na onal Security Adviser, partly read.
about Bello.
Other Cases
Sources also told OSUN DEFENDER that some key appointees of the administra on are allegedly involved in a payment for appointments process, with those lobbying for appointments paying to get the slots.
One of the sources said, “There is a huge appointment racketeering process going on in this government. While some civil servants are also part of the mix, I learnt people pay in between $100,000 and $150,000 to get juicy appointments, depending on loca on and the offices sought.
“Many of these appointment seekers are even told not to mind the amount as they will recoup their monies within their first six months in office.”
Amidst the lingering poverty and economic hardship in the country, many Nigerians have also cri cised the Tinubu administra on’s economic policies, which they say has resulted in hyperinfla on, hike in electricity tariff, passport fees, among others, stressing that the move has further enriched the government and its allies.
Reac ons Reac ng to the No More Corrup on statement, some religious leaders held that corrup on in the Nigerian stance is yet to be eliminated.
Rev. Fr. Joseph Opelema, Chairman of the Chris an Associa on of Nigeria (CAN) in Bayelsa State, said the President’s comment does not reflect the lived reality of most Nigerians. “Evidence of corrup on abounds in all spheres of our na onal life,” he said. “From the police to the judiciary, and even in educa on, nothing has changed.” He cited ongoing police extor on, judicial manipula on, and corrup on in electoral processes as proof that corrup on remains rampant. Similarly, Sheikh AbdulGaniy Bello of Ikorodu echoed similar views, calling Tinubu’s statement a poli cal move aimed at cour ng foreign investors. “Corrup on is not a poli cal issue— it’s social, economic, and cultural,” he said. “The cankerworm stares you in the face from the airport to government offices. Tackling it requires more than statements.”
Nigerians are awai ng when pending inves gaons are concluded to form further respec ve opinions on the ma er.
•The National Youth Leader of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Balarabe Rufa’i during a visit to Bauchi State ADC Secretariat, last Saturday ahead of the Youth Decide 2027 sensitisation program
THE new passport fees of N100,000 and N300,000 are higher than the N70,000 minimum wage. It’s quite intriguing how the federal government worked out the increases in passport fees. Passports are a right of ci zens in a sovereign state, and also a part of interna onal rela ons as well as the country’s economy.
What’s paradoxical about the recent increase in the cost of obtaining passports is that at a N70,000 minimum wage, passports now clearly bear a class dis nc on. The hike is either N100,000 for five years or N200,000 for ten years. If we work out the cost based on those earnings below N100,000, it’s an unacceptable cost for any country in terms of purchasing power parity.
A quick flashback will remind Nigerians that a 32-page passport had cost N25,000 and a 64-page passport cost N50,000 pre 2015 to 2023. However, in the last one year, the price has been increased twice, first from N25,000 to N50,000 for 32 pages covering a five-year lifespan and from 50,000 to 100,000 for 64 pages of ten year validity, before the latest price announced six days ago.
The simple truth is that we are
THike In Passport Fees!
now bringing in class dis nc on, which already exists, into the obtaining of what ought to be a right
of ci zens in a sovereign state.
The main reason for the hike, as in other sectors, is an unrelenting revenue drive on the part of the government. Perhaps, the best route to go is that a cost-benefit analysis should be done on every revenue drive.
No ma er the objec ve of the government in these assorted revenue drives, one would have thought that the government would have started by reducing the costs of running the machinery of government. It’s clear that there’s no inten on, even a perfunctory one, to implement the report of the Oronsaye Commission on the cost of the ma-
A Skewed Reward System
AKE the story of Nafisat Abdullahi, the 17-year-old girl from Yobe State. Against all odds, she went to London, competed with over 20,000 students from 69 countries, including those from na ve English-speaking na ons, and came out as the world best in English.
Think about that for a second - a Nigerian girl from the North defeating the world in their own language. If this is not genius, if this is not a symbol of what Nigerian youth can be when given the right push, then we don’t know what it is.
And how did the Federal Government of Nigeria reward her? With N200,000. The case of this brilliant prodigy, 17-year-old wonder girl from Yobe State, brings forth once more the inherent contradic on in Nigeria’s system of reward and acknowledgement.
The promising young lady should have been highlighted by the government and the en re poli cal establishment as a beacon of hope in a dismal landscape of promises unfulfilled. On the contrary, in an enactment of our long-running theater of the absurd, Nafisat Abdullahi is being treated in a cavalier manner.
The consequences of this sort of treatment must be pointed out. The country has a bizarre system of reward which explains its underachievement. There’s a clear economic consequence in this.
We know as a fact that the outsourcing in this industry is worth roughly $500 billion a year! This is u erly ridiculous. For Nigeria has be er English speaking skills than India and Brazil. So why is Nigeria not taking a minimum 25% of the outsourcing of call centers, etc.?
The bizarre way in which Miss
Abdullahi is being treated points to why. This is an opportunity for everyone to call for an end to this sort of thing. We must appreciate that the a tude to reward an apprecia on also affects our system of recrui ng and selec on of personnel which is very much detrimental to development.
The absurdity of our reward system, which clearly does not take into effect the economic consequences of what we are doing, can be seen from the wide disparity between rewards given to the Super Falcons, assorted sports stars. Nobody is saying that the rewards given to the sports arena are not jus fied. But we should also not relegate intellectual endeavour into the background.
Even more ridiculous and u erly unacceptable is the showering of both financial incen ves and misplaced accolades on those taking part in the voyeurism of the Big Brother circus. Voyeurism is to be condemned; for the government to entertain a program in which the ci zenry or a large segment of the ci zenry is reduced to, in quotes, “peeping toms” is utterly morally reprehensible.
We know what is going to happen in the end in the case of Miss Abdullahi. You do not need to be par cularly intelligent or be a seer to know that she will soon get scholarships from the best universi es in the world to mold and mentor her onto great things in life, including perhaps a Nobel Prize for Literature in the decades ahead.
The government cannot be promo ng the crea ve arts correctly and at the same me ignoring or downplaying emerging stars such as Miss Abdullahi. We must imagine what she can be as a scriptwriter,
novelist, and so many things in the decades ahead.
This let us remind ourselves is the age of CONTENT. Content drives today’s commercial processes across all arenas.”
“The hike in passport fees is also in contradiction to the government’s laudable support for the Africa Free Trade Agreement”
chinery of government.
The Oronsaye report, which has already been outdated, highlights the need for reform. Instead, like those throwing confe at a wedding, we’ve con nued to create a myriad of agencies upon agencies without applying any cost-benefit analysis.
To cover the costs of these agencies, we’ll con nue to increase fees, levies, and taxes at a mainly astronomical rate. This, in itself, is a further erosion of the purchasing power of the average ci zen, while those who should be making sacrifices con nue to have a good me.
The issue goes way beyond the hike in passport fees. The issue is across the board, mirrored in taxes, customs area, port du es, etc. How much can a country bear and s ll be compe ve?
The hike in passport fees is also in contradic on to the government’s laudable support for the Africa Free Trade Agreement. Let it be absolutely clear that Nigeria’s huge informal sector will need to move across the con nent to take advantage of the opening up of the con nent’s borders.
The increase in the fees for obtaining passports will definitely be an unnecessary addi onal cost factor to the already cash-pressed informal sector. This is worth factoring in, and we should look at the economic consequences.
The astronomical increases in levies, taxes, and whatnot will con nue to impoverish ci zens and make the economy even less compe ve. It will lead to all manner of black markets and grey areas for the enterprising to exploit.
OSUN DEFENDER
Telephone : 0809-301-9152
Website : www.osundefender.com/index.php e-mail : osundefenderhq@gmail.com osundefenderbank@gmail.com All correspondence to the above email addresses.
A er this new set of increases, this country must really take a pause and look at the en re framework of what we are doing. You cannot build an economy based on con nuing levies and taxes without commensurate benefits to the ci zenry.
It’s me to assess how these increases will lead to sustainable development and make our en re framework interna onally more compe ve. It’s me to take a pause.
•Nafisat Abdulahi
A Budding Star
IN other climes, the opposion leads protests against foul policies of government. In our space, the place of the opposi on is to fight itself, have intra-party conflicts and leadership challenges. Only to abdicate the levers of progressive opposi on to the government of the day to young people who get vilified and murdered when they respond and react to the excesses of the Gangsters in Power.
In other climes, there are Price Regula ons and Consumer Protec on. In this space ci zens of the Country with the world’s poorest people are le at the mercy of Big Businesses and polical operators. Banks and Big Businesses declare windfalls and you ask, who are those patronizing them? Where do the very poor get the funds that work for hundreds of billions as profit to the Big Businesses? Is Nigeria not a Rogue Na on governed by Rogues for Rogues, to the chagrin of intending Rogues, and certainly to the grave disappointment of the hoi polloi, and the hapless masses.
In other climes, the media punctures the deceit of poli cal operators and Big Businesses. In this space the media enables the deceit, gibberish, tommyrot, and falsehood of governmental operators and Big Businesses. They sing the seeming success of the soulless oppressors of the people. They hail individual wealth that impoverishes
“Power
Tariff and Fuel Price is on a steady rise, and the Gangsters in Power think that the tale of no more subsidy cuts an ice. They deepen the rungs of poverty thinking that lies and voodoo economics will blind an inquisitive generation”
By Prof. Chris Nwaokobia
When Gangsters Run A Nation, Truth, Values And Morals Become Shibboleth
many, scarcely ever asking, ‘at what further cost on the poor will this be’?
In other climes, Energy and Power are subsidized, and so is Agriculture. In this space, Government prides in the removal of a non exis ng subsidy in the Power and the Energy sector. They oblige the corrup ve proclivi es of government operators and Big Businesses, and lie about everything to excuse the worst larceny known to humankind, as the media gives life to the deceit of the worst poli cal species known to history.
Power Tariff and Fuel Price is on a steady rise, and the Gangsters in Power think that the tale of no more subsidy cuts an ice. They deepen the rungs of poverty thinking that lies and voodoo economics will blind an inquisi ve genera on. They trade perfidy believing that the people are indeed deceived, not knowing that the deceiver is indeed the deceived. But like every space superintended by Gangsters they never smell reality, they hate the truth, they devalue proper conduct and mor-
als, and mock logic and clear thought un l the worst become their lot.
I shall not congratulate Dangote, I shall not congratulate Tinubu, I will not cut the Government or the NNPC LTD any slack un l I know the exact litre of Henry’s fuel consumed daily in Nigeria. Un l I know the exact amount of subsidy Nigeria has been paying daily and monthly. Un l I know the landing cost of Petrol. Un l Government puts to trial all those who have been stealing our Crude Oil. Un l the rot called Subsidy is fully and truly explained. Un l I understand why a highly impoverished people will have to pay more for Power and for Fuel.
I do not grudge Dangote, why should I grudge him. I grudge a government that has no place for decency and dignity. The President’s Nephew runs a company that allegedly was worth 70 billion a year ago, and a year and a few months a er his Uncle becomes President, and the Minister of Petroleum, the Market value of his Petroleum Company
jumps from 70 billion Naira to 1 Trillion Naira, ‘no be juju be that’? That’s what a naon gets when Gangsters are in Power. ‘Dangote go chop e own too’ so the people must pay more for fuel. The people are the perennial vic m of the evil called ‘leadership in Nigeria’.
If the People protest they are called names, they are charged for Treason and some morally deficient sycophants think that this will con nue ad nauseam ad infinitum. We shall see. When organized Labour, the NLC and the TUC call the government names and bay for a protest and strike, they are called haters of government and enablers of treason and treasonable felony. For how long do they hope to sustain the present mess? ‘We n I know sef’?
Only Gangsters spend money lavishly without caring about the people. Only Gangsters increase the hardship of the majority for the aggrandizing feat and feast of the minority. Only Gangsters buy new Jets and Presiden al vehicles whilst asking ci zens to manage. Only Gangsters build new houses for government operators whilst poverty pummels the people. Only Gangsters buy new SUVs for Government Operators in the face of draconic hunger and poverty. Only Gangsters increase Power tariff and fuel price in the na on that houses the world’s poorest populaon. And only Gangsters treat ci zens like a conquered people. This Government must Prove me wrong by exercising some humanity, un l then, I am compelled to believe that calling this watch, a watch of Gangsters in Power GIP is pre y charitable and polite.
When a government subsumed by profligacy, waste, Kakistocracy, kleptomania and wanderlust thinks that they can con nuously increase the hardship faced by the people without resistance, opposi on and conflict, that government MUST be on a steady high. But what can I say, is it not true after all that, When Gangsters Run A Na on, Truth, Values And Morals Become Shibboleth.
I s ll believe in Nigeria, for over my head I see a New Nigeria in the Horizon.