Members of the opposition parties are beginning to mount pressure on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with the latest coming from the National Chairman of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who accused the Nigerian leader of losing touch with what is going on in the country, news.ng reports.
Baba-Ahmed, in an interview on Arise Television on Monday morning, claimed that it is evident that the Nigerian leader is not aware of the level of hardship citizens are experiencing.
He said, “I think that President Tinubu is either not in touch with this country. I’m saying this with the highest respect. If a president would say, if you don’t see his progress, you need either to wear new glasses or you’re biased beyond a point, I think we should be even more worried.
“There is no way you can live in this country, seeing the level of poverty, seeing the level of unaccountability, we’re not accounting for the funds we’re getting, and still say that Nigerians should see what you’re doing and applaud you.”
The PRP chairman expressed confidence that his party can defeat the APC in the 2027 presidential election based on what he described as the failure of the administration.
“One of the reasons why we feel confident that we can defeat APC is exactly this kind of mindset. You have 10, 12, 20 failings of an administration that is saying we have done fantastic,” he declared.
According to him, the administration sees critics as enemies, a perception he described as unhealthy in a democratic setting. He reiterated that the president is distant from the people who voted for him in 2023.
“And anybody who doesn’t applaud, anybody who doesn’t see us, is either an enemy or a hostile interest or he doesn’t have glasses in his eyes. I think President Tinubu, honestly, and I’m saying this with all due respect, somehow, he’s too isolated from the problems of this country, that he actually thinks the reforms on paper translate into the way Nigerians live. They don’t,” he said.
On why he believes the opposition has an edge ahead of the 2027 general elections, Baba-Ahmed highlighted some of the ills in society.
“We are more insecure, we are more hungry, we are more desperate, we want change. If he doesn’t understand that and he goes to the elections with this attitude, and I think conducts a free and fair election, then we’re home and dry,” he noted.
