The former Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Political Matters, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has claimed that the Nigerian economy is worse under the current administration of President Bola Tinubu than during his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Baba-Ahmed who spoke on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Friday, opened up on his open letter to President Tinubu in which he asked him not to contest in 2027.
According to him, he had hoped President Tinubu’s administration as president would bring economic development, given his role as former Lagos State governor who had also tasted poverty.
He alleged that although selected a political adviser in the current administration, he was not pleased with the role, and had to resign.
He reinstated his advice to Tinubu not to re-contest the position come 2027.
Baba-Ahmed argued that he had yet to see evidence that if Tinubu is voted for in 2027, the Nigerian economy would be better than it currently is.
He argued that who would end up as the next president has nothing to do with tribe.
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“More blood is shed now than it was maybe two years ago. And yet you see this kind of statistics that say there are fewer killings, there is less violence.
“You have to ask, do our leaders actually know how our people live? Who is telling them all this? How do these statistics get acquired? Because if you want to really measure how people live, you do not do that by just some statistics that someone gives you.
“Do the president’s people really tell him the state of the country? Does he know? Does he know the level of poverty? Does he know how many families, entire families, live in that village?
“I saw a president who was stubborn, almost visionary, but he ran Lagos for eight years. Whether he ran it well or not, I do not know. But he ran Lagos well.
“He resisted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s overbearing and strong determination to get rid of him. Beyond that, I saw him as a calculating politician. He gave his platform to Atiku.
“He gave his platform to Nuhuru Ribadu. He participated actively. Then he agreed with Buhari, created a platform which allowed Buhari to become president. Because in 2003, 2007, and 2011, Buhari was running, he did not get anywhere.
“To be honest with you, I think that coalition, CPC-APC-AC, was decisive in terms of giving President Buhari victory. And as I said, I was part of the campaign. I had a front-line seat, so I know what I am talking about. And Tinubu’s contribution to Buhari’s emergence was genuinely a deciding factor. So in many ways, you have to give him credit for being a calculating president.
“I do not know what has happened since 2015, but I do not see the fire. I do not see that calculation. I did not see much of him, to be fair to him.
“Let him come from anywhere. Believe me, at this stage, it is not important anymore. He could come from anywhere at this stage. Anybody who is talking to you about North and South doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
