Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media, Bayo Onanuga, has launched a sharp rebuttal against former Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola, following his recent criticisms of the federal government during the African Democratic Congress (ADC) convention held in Abuja on Tuesday.
At the convention, Aregbesola reportedly called for President Bola Tinubu’s resignation, citing concerns over the national economy and recent terrorist attacks.
In a response posted on his X (formerly Twitter) page, Onanuga questioned Aregbesola’s own track record, alleging that his previous roles in public office were marked by significant failures.
According to him, his tenure as governor of Osun State was characterised by financial mismanagement and hardship for civil servants.
He recalled that under his administration, many workers received only a fraction of their salaries, and pensioners faced severe difficulties due to unpaid dues.
The rebuttal also targeted Aregbesola’s performance as minister of interior between 2019 and 2023, which the presidential aide said was marred by a series of high-profile jailbreaks, leading to the escape of over 4,000 inmates from correctional centres across the country, including the Kuje prison escape in Abuja.
He also criticised Aregbesola’s tenure for the difficulties citizens faced when attempting to obtain Nigerian passports.
Defending the current administration, Onanuga argued that while economic reforms have caused unintended hardships, the Tinubu government has implemented significant relief measures.
These include a more than 100 per cent increase in the minimum wage, direct cash transfers to vulnerable populations, and efforts to reduce inflation.
On the issue of national security, the administration maintains that it is actively supporting the military and intelligence agencies through increased investment in equipment and international cooperation to combat terrorism and banditry.
The president’s spokesperson concluded by asserting that the “Renewed Hope” agenda is yielding positive results, citing improvements in the nation’s GDP, foreign reserves, and the performance of the stock market.
Below is the full text of the statement:
No, Rauf. The real scammers are the politicians inside the SPV called ADC
My attention has been drawn to Rauf Aregbesola’s attack on the Tinubu administration at today’s illegal elective convention of the ADC—a party of desperados and power mongers who, to date, have not articulated any credible plan for Nigeria. At the event, Aregbesola reportedly called on his former boss, mentor, and benefactor to resign, parroting the opposition’s warped narratives about the economy and orchestrated reports of terrorist attacks in some parts of the country.
Unfortunately, Aregbesola did not undertake any honest self-reflection on his own record in public office—as governor or as Minister of Interior. His eight years as governor of Osun State were characterised by unmitigated hardship for the people. Under his half-baked socialist policies, civil servants went unpaid for months, and those who were paid received only a fraction of their salaries. It is to Aregbesola’s infamy that Osun became known as a state receiving negative federal allocation and paying just 20 to 30 per cent of normal salaries. It was worse for pensioners in Aregbesola’s Osun State. Many pensioners who relied on their meagre monthly payments died because they were not paid at all.
This is the same man who now has the effrontery to attack the Tinubu administration, despite his tenure in Osun leaving a legacy of unpaid salaries, financial recklessness, abandoned projects, and misguided policies that brought the state to ruin. His immediate successor, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, worked hard to clean up much of the mess left behind, and Governor Adeleke is still dealing with the consequences.
Aregbesola’s second line of attack against President Tinubu is equally hypocritical. As Minister of Interior under President Muhammadu Buhari, his tenure witnessed the highest number of jailbreaks in Nigeria’s history—including the infamous Kuje Prison escape in Abuja. During his four years, obtaining a Nigerian passport became a nightmarish process, and there were 15 major attacks on correctional facilities in Jos, Abolongo, Imo, Kabba, and Okitipupa, resulting in over 4,000 inmates escaping to join criminal elements.
For someone who failed so woefully to secure our correctional centres and uphold his duties between 2019 and 2023, it is ironic that Aregbesola now seeks to lecture others on insecurity. Maybe he thinks the entire Nigerian population suffers from amnesia.
Politicians may indulge in cheap talk and easy criticism, but Nigerians must never forget the abysmal records of Rauf and his fellow desperados. Nigerians must remain vigilant, lest power-hungry individuals with no programme attempt to hoodwink them. Because they have no credible programme, they are weaponising the isolated terrorist attacks, as if the problem started from this administration.
The Tinubu administration has never shied away from acknowledging that policy reforms have brought unintended consequences, impacting the most vulnerable. However, over the last three years, the government has introduced numerous relief measures to mitigate these effects—including increasing the minimum wage by over 100 per cent, making cash transfers to the vulnerable, assisting small-scale enterprises, and reducing inflation to less than 15 per cent from over 25 per cent at the start of the reforms, with food prices crashing. The government will continue to implement policies to alleviate hardship and support the most vulnerable in our society.
On security, the Tinubu administration has been supporting the military, the DSS and the intelligence agencies. The government has been investing in more and more equipment for the military and has sought assistance from foreign governments to battle the inherited scourge of terrorism and banditry.
The administration’s Renewed Hope Programme is on track and has received global praise. We have seen the effects of how it has increased GDP and our foreign reserves, made our country the toast of investors, and made our stock market bullish and prosperous.
No, Rauf, the Renewed Hope Agenda is not a scam. The real scammers are the politicians gathered inside the SPV called ADC.
