…Says President’s bold decisions saved country from collapse.

…Backs Tinubu’s second-term bid

The South-West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA) has stressed that Nigeria was sliding into what it described as an irreversible cliff when Bola Tinubu emerged as president in 2023, claiming that his decisive interventions pulled the country back from the brink of total collapse.

According to the SWAGA, which was the pioneer support group that mobilised for Tinubu’s election in 2023, emphasised that without Tinubu’s courage and bold decisions, Nigeria would have descended into hyperinflation and total bankruptcy.

The group, now relaunching as SWAGA 2.0, stated this during a thank-you visit to the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade, where it also formally backed the President’s second term, citing what it described as obvious achievements across infrastructure, education, housing, and military welfare.

SWAGA’s National Chairman, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, who also chairs the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority, informed the monarch and the people of Akure that the group had been vindicated following its early support of Tinubu when no one took the movement with seriousness.

Adeyeye led the SWAGA team comprising the National Secretary, Bosun Oladele; Executive Director of Corporate Services (EDCS) at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Oyetunde Ojo; Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Federal Housing Authority, Ayo Omidiran; Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, among others to Ondo State.

According to Adeyeye, the country was living on borrowed time under the previous administration, disclosing that all major presidential candidates in the 2023 election, including Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, recognised the inevitability of subsidy removal.

The SWAGA chairman added that even former President Muhammadu Buhari had declared he could not continue subsidy payments, stating that the Dangote refinery would not function under a rigidly regulated system and that most businesses would have collapsed without the President’s reforms.

Adeyeye hailed Tinubu for the courage to “take the bull by the horns” and put Nigeria back on its feet, a decision he emphasised has provided resources for all three tiers of government to effectively function.

“If not for some key aspects of policies of Tinubu, I don’t know where Nigeria would be now. I want to assure you that by now, Nigeria would have been completely bankrupt. Maybe a litre of fuel would be selling for over 10,000, because you don’t even have the money to import it.

“Now, you have NELFUND in the universities. And all of them can go and access it. People are feeling this effect at the local level. All the masses are feeling it.

On his part, Oyetunde Ojo, SWAGA Convener and Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Federal Housing Authority, reinforced Adeyeye’s claims, asserting that the group was now coming forward to challenge critics to dispute Tinubu’s record.

According to him, within the next six to seven months, Tinubu would commission over housing units across the country, as well as housing schemes for the military.

The convener also pointed to political realignments as evidence of the president’s performance, noting that governors are defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) without coercion.

The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade, who had endorsed Tinubu’s presidential ambition over three years ago during the first visit of SWAGA, recounted personal reasons for his support.

The monarch disclosed that Akure, despite being one of the largest state capitals in the country after Lagos and Ibadan in terms of population, had no federal teaching hospital until Tinubu approved one just a year ago.

Since Baba Falai, who had been minister of finance, we don’t have an Akure indigene as a substantive minister. But he gave it to us. So it’s just like he became the president because of Akure.”