Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has admitted that the country is grappling with severe economic challenges inherited by the current administration, even as she accused critics of exploiting the approaching re-election season to portray the nation negatively to the international community.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News Digital posted via X.com by Arise TV on Monday, Mrs Tinubu acknowledged that Nigeria was “just out of a lot of economic crisis” but insisted the government was implementing reforms to stabilize the economy.
“We’re just out of a lot of economic crisis that we inherited, because this is the first time the government of Nigeria will remove fuel subsidy. We were not producing oil, we were not refining them,” the First Lady said.
She, however, suggested that some criticisms of the government, including claims by US lawmakers of a “Christian genocide” in Nigeria, were politically motivated as the country approaches its re-election period.
“We live in Nigeria, we know that this is a democracy, and we are getting close to re-election, and there will be a lot of potholes of the beliefs they want the outside world to know,” she stated.
Mrs Tinubu pointed to economic gains, including local refining of petroleum products and exchange rate stabilization, as evidence of progress.
“Now Nigeria, we have refined products, and we’re not importing fuel like before. So our exchange rates are stabilizing. The country is moving forward,” she added.
The First Lady also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had declared a state of emergency on insecurity in November 2024, leading to the recruitment of 50,000 additional police officers, 24,000 soldiers, and the arming of 10,000 forest guards.
She further revealed that 11,566 police officers previously assigned to VIP protection had been recalled and redeployed to security hotspots, including Plateau, Benue, and Taraba states.
“When Nigeria was in the boom age, we didn’t really invest well. So this is what we’ve inherited now. We have to see what to do,” Mrs Tinubu said, adding that the government was seeking partnerships with countries willing to assist Nigeria’s development.
Her comments come days after US President Donald Trump publicly recognized her at a breakfast event in Washington, a development she described as unexpected global recognition for Nigeria.
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𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎: 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐬 '𝐑𝐞-𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬' 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐬
Credit: X | Arise TV
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