Get Guardian on GoogleThe Executive Director of #FixPolitics Africa, Anthony Ubani, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for relying on his record as Lagos State governor in his campaign for a second presidential term, rather than presenting the achievements of his administration at the federal level.
Ubani said an incumbent seeking re-election should be judged primarily on his performance in office, arguing that Nigerians deserved a clear assessment of Tinubu’s stewardship since he assumed office in May 2023.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the governance expert said Tinubu had the right to campaign on his past achievements but should not use them to avoid scrutiny of his current record.
“Tinubu has every right to campaign on his past, but he has no right to escape accountability for his present,” he said.
Ubani said it was troubling that, more than three years into Tinubu’s presidency, references to his eight-year tenure as Lagos governor remained prominent in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign.
“If the most convincing evidence his party can offer Nigerians after more than three years in power as President still comes from his years as Governor of Lagos State, citizens are entitled to ask whether the administration itself has already delivered its verdict on his first term,” he said.
He argued that Nigerians were now entitled to a national report card detailing the administration’s achievements, rather than repeated references to Tinubu’s record in Lagos between 1999 and 2007.
According to him, a president seeking re-election should present evidence of fulfilled promises, solved problems and measurable improvements delivered during his tenure.
“An incumbent President seeking re-election is not an applicant attending his first job interview. He is an employee returning to his employers, the Nigerian people, asking that his contract be renewed,” Ubani said.
He added that the President’s campaign should be “overflowing with evidence” of what his administration had achieved since 2023.
Ubani particularly criticised Tinubu’s remarks at the APC presidential campaign rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on November 6, where the President compared his record as Lagos governor with that of Peter Obi as governor of Anambra State.
Tinubu had said: “In Anambra, he could not confront erosion. I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, confronted the Atlantic Ocean.”
But Ubani said such comparisons were irrelevant to the 2027 presidential election.
“Nigerians are not conducting an election to determine who the more successful state governor was two decades ago; they are choosing who should lead Nigeria from 2027,” he said.
He also criticised APC leaders who spoke at the Uyo rally, alleging that they failed to highlight substantial achievements of Tinubu as President and instead focused on his reputation as a “transformer” and “change agent” in Lagos.
The #FixPolitics Africa executive director further questioned what he described as the repeated re-approval of projects that had previously received government approval.
He cited the proposed Ibom Deep Seaport, noting that Tinubu had reportedly promised the project during his 2023 presidential campaign in Akwa Ibom, while the Federal Executive Council under former President Muhammadu Buhari had approved its first phase in December 2020 at an estimated cost of $2.016 billion.
Ubani said another presidential approval announced in November 2026 should not be presented as equivalent to actual construction or completion of the project.
“Approval is not construction. Construction is not completion. And completion is not the same as a functioning facility delivering jobs, trade and economic value,” he said.
He also rejected arguments that the administration needed more time before its reforms could be assessed.
According to him, while some economic reforms and infrastructure projects naturally require time, the government must demonstrate how citizens’ sacrifices are translating into measurable gains.
“A government asking citizens to endure hardship must be especially diligent in showing what their sacrifices have purchased. It must demonstrate progress with credible evidence, acknowledge failures without excuses and explain what additional time in office would realistically achieve,” Ubani said.
He maintained that more than three years in office was sufficient for the administration to provide a substantive account of its stewardship, even if all its promises had not yet been fulfilled.
“Nigeria is not looking for a former governor with a good story; it is looking for a President with a credible record,” he said.
