According to Punch Newspapers, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has mounted a vigorous defense of the administration’s macroeconomic policy shifts, declaring that President Bola Tinubu absorbed severe political damage to insulate the country from immediate bankruptcy. Onanuga argued that the administration inherited a deeply compromised economic ecosystem in mid-2023, plagued by acute petrol shortages, fragmented exchange rate windows, low public revenue, and a completely unsustainable debt profile. He insisted that floating the local currency and abolishing the fuel subsidy were the only viable paths to survival.
The presidential strategist pointed out that a direct consequence of these painful financial rectifications has been a massive surge in statutory revenues distributed to lower tiers of government. Onanuga noted that states across the federation—including Ogun, Oyo, Nasarawa, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Kaduna—are now experiencing an infrastructural boom made possible solely by the expanded allocations resulting from the federal fiscal re-engineering. He emphasized that as local government councils begin to exercise their full financial autonomy, the positive structural shockwaves of the reforms will become even more visible at the grassroots level.
Onanuga also lashed out at opposition figures, accusing them of leveraging the transitory pains of the economic transition to orchestrate disinformation campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections. He insisted that the administration remains willing to endure short-term unpopularity to safeguard the country’s collective future, maintaining that the current fiscal trajectory has effectively permanently broken the backs of rent-seeking elites who previously thrived on speculative market distortions.
An independent analysis by Vanguard tracked these comments, noting that the administration is actively working to reshape public sentiment by highlighting visible state projects. The media outlet observed that “increased allocation to the states” has given governors unprecedented fiscal legroom. In tandem, coverage by Daily Post Nigeria underscored the political undertones of Onanuga’s statement, capturing the administration’s view that “Tinubu inherited a struggling economy” and successfully averted a total breakdown of state finances.
Echotitbits take: Onanuga’s commentary reflects a coordinated communications push to decentralize accountability for economic relief onto state governors, who are receiving record-high monthly allocations. By framing the President as a leader who “took the bullet,” the presidency is trying to build an image of courageous statesmanship out of harsh economic conditions. The ultimate success of this narrative hinges on whether local governments can effectively translate their newly acquired financial autonomy into tangible public welfare.
Source: Arise – https://www.facebook.com/AriseTVNews/posts/tinubu-says-painful-economic-reforms-prevented-fiscal-collapse-and-are-beginning/1569528738512326/, May 29, 2026
Photo credit: NALTF
