Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have again expressed strong confidence in President Bola Tinubu, declaring that the country’s economy was on the brink of collapse when he assumed office in May 2023.
The governors said the country’s coffers were virtually empty at the time, weighed down by an unsustainable petrol subsidy regime, severe foreign-exchange distortions and widespread fiscal leakages.
Speaking on behalf of the governors at the 15th National Executive Council meeting of the APC held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, on Friday, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, said President Tinubu inherited an economy “in a state of coma.”
According to him, the President took decisive steps to prevent total economic collapse by confronting long-avoided structural problems.
“He took the bull by the horns,” Uzodimma said, referring to the removal of fuel subsidies and efforts to end foreign-exchange arbitrage, which he described as necessary though painful reforms.
Uzodimma accused opposition politicians of hypocrisy, arguing that many of them had previously canvassed similar policies but were now exploiting public hardship for political advantage.
He said that despite criticism, Tinubu had remained focused and undistracted, noting that the administration had also adopted a “fire-for-fire” approach to insecurity.
The governor cited the swift rescue of kidnapped victims in Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states as evidence of improved security coordination, adding that the President had ordered the recruitment of thousands of additional security personnel and a restructuring of the security command architecture.
Uzodimma further claimed that key economic indicators were beginning to show improvement, saying inflation had dropped significantly, petrol prices had stabilised, and federal revenue was now flowing more transparently to states and local governments.
He praised the President for promoting what he described as “true fiscal federalism,” adding that reforms in the oil sector had improved transparency and helped curb crude-oil theft and illegal mining.
Addressing claims of religious persecution, Uzodimma dismissed them as “imported lies,” including what he described as a fabricated narrative of “a Christian genocide,” which he said had been rejected by global religious authorities.
He warned that the APC-led government would not allow ethnicity or religion to be weaponised to divide the country.
According to him, the impact of the reforms was becoming visible in everyday life.
“These reforms are now visible with our own eyes in the market,” Uzodimma said, claiming that food prices were easing, the naira was strengthening, and the gap between the official and parallel foreign-exchange markets had been eliminated.
Highlighting the party’s political strength, Uzodimma noted that the APC currently controls 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states, describing the ruling party as “a beautiful bride.”
“We are ready to marry more wives,” he said, in reference to expanding the party’s political base ahead of future elections.
The Imo State governor formally moved a vote of confidence in President Tinubu, urging him to “keep his foot on the gas” and ignore critics “who want us to return to the era of free money and fake exchange rates.”
He invited the Governor of Kaduna State to second the motion on behalf of the Progressive Governors’ Forum.
Uzodimma also pledged the governors’ continued support for the President’s security initiatives, vowing that they would help identify individuals “hiding under politics at sub-national levels to fan the embers of insecurity.”
He warned against attempts by what he described as “sore losers” to undermine democracy and called on APC leaders to aggressively take the message of economic recovery to grassroots communities.
“The Renewed Hope agenda must be amplified to the last man on the street,” he said.
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