- Speaking at the State House, Tinubu emphasized that governance must be transformative and meet people’s critical needs
President Bola Tinubu informed Yoruba leaders that the Nigerian system was “bleeding” when he took office a year ago, but his administration has worked to address this.
He highlighted the need for a more effective local government system to foster community development and deliver essential services.
Speaking at the State House, Tinubu emphasized that governance must be transformative and meet people’s critical needs. He described the past 12 months as fulfilling for his administration, despite some challenges.
“It has been challenging. It has been fulfilling as well. We took over, and we have stopped the bleeding. I can say categorically now that Nigeria is no longer bleeding. And it will not bleed to death, but rather will now move to prosperity. That is the promise that I made to you all, and it is also the charge that you gave to me.”
He also called for the deepening of governance and the reinforcement of leadership across all levels of government and institutions, adding that his administration is committed to encouraging fiscal federalism and strengthening the system to enhance inclusion and equity for all Nigerians.
“Local government administration is being suffocated. People are looking at the opportunity to ensure that they survive and become more purposeful through community development programmes. What I will not support is any effort to make the local government a unitary system by handing all core responsibilities to the federal government. That is criminal when there is a federal system.
“We have a federal system. There is state and federal administration. We have two components. States must do whatever is in the best interest of their own process of administration. There is no one-size-fits-all. That is what we should do by looking at the revenue formula, and we must be consistent with federalism; fiscal federalism. Those are the things you should expect from me, not the knee-jerk reactions ahead of elections.”
While thanking the delegation of eminent Nigerians, President Tinubu urged continuous support for and faith in Nigeria, assuring them that his government would live up to expectations.