President Tinubu has shown mastery of statecraft within one month

Ambassador Joseph Olusola Iji is an Ondo State-born renowned politician and diplomat with a rich experience in the Nigerian political space. He was elected State Chairman, Alliance for Democracy (AD) Ondo State, in 2003; State Chairman, Action Congress (AC) in 2006 and remained chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Ondo State, till December 2010 when he was elected National ex-officio member, SW of the party. Between 2012 and 2014, he helped revive the party in many states including Kwara, Osun, Akwa Ibom, etc. until the merger with others to form the APC in 2014. In May 2015, he was appointed Member, Swearing-in Sub-Committee of the Presidential Inauguration Committee and became Nigeria’s Ambassador to Togo in 2017.

He speaks to a select group of journalists in Abuja on President Bola Tinubu’s style of administration so far. Demola Abimboye captured it. Excerpts:

How will you assess President Bola Tinubu’s performance since his inauguration four weeks ago?

First, let’s thank God for his life, his success in the elections and the vigour he has introduced into politics and governance since he was inaugurated. From day one, he hit the ground running. He has done a lot within so short a time. His approach has given some of us hope that the man is ready to work. On day one, he started with fuel subsidy removal and merger of naira exchange rates. Besides, he has said he will not condone corruption; not only has he suspended the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, but also suspended and commissioned an investigation into the activities of the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa. We never experienced all these in the last six years.

There is this dynamism President Tinubu has brought to governance. For me, there is an indication that there is a new Sheriff in town.

But people have complained about the haste in subsidy removal; that he should have done a situation report rather than depending on the handover note from his predecessor?

People are entitled to their own perspectives. The man Tinubu is not a foreigner, not as if he was just coming to Nigeria. For years we have been talking about fuel subsidy, that it was benefitting a few. There have been studies on it and even the last regime wanted to do it but lacked the courage. Tinubu came in and said it was clear that there was no provision for subsidy in the 2023 budget beyond June. He had the courage to tell Nigerians that the subsidy is gone. I don’t know about his decision being hasty.

Look at what he did: the economy reacted, prices went up. But he responded and mitigated the crisis that could have attended the subsidy removal. He had done his studies. Look at how he handled the reaction and threats of labour – Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress.

What about arguments that palliatives should have been on ground before the removal?

That is from a different perspective. President Tinubu only performed the physical removal. There was no provision for fuel subsidy beyond the end of June 2023. When you are in a position of leadership and you take some critical decisions that are likely to have negative consequences, people are bound to be affected. It is from these that you find solutions to the problems. He met the labour leaders on the field and has mapped out what to do. He has inaugurated the National Economic Council, NEC. Those who wanted to go on strike are now talking with the Federal Government. Now, there is N700 billion in terms of review of salaries and minimum wage.

Should it be about minimum wage review alone as that affects only the public sector?

When you say palliatives, it is not in terms of salaries and wages alone. The Government is coming up with infrastructure and transport facilities. The private sector will implement a reviewed minimum wage. That’s why the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, is involved. It is not as if it is only for the public sector. When NLC, TUC, NECA are involved, they represent both the public and private sectors. This is a multi-various approach to lessen the burden of fuel subsidy removal.

Appointments are tenured in statutory corporations. What happens in the case of the CBN Governor?

Don’t forget that the President appoints but only approaches the Senate for confirmation. Recall when Ibrahim Magu was nominated for the chair of EFCC by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate turned it down many times but he remained there at the pleasure of the President. Despite the statutory corporation status, the President has the power to suspend him. He has not sacked but suspended him so that in probing them, they won’t tamper with evidence and documents.

How do you assess the appointments made so far by President Tinubu, such as Chief of Staff and Special Advisers?

Nigerians have hailed him for appointing Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff. Before his appointment, everybody knew he was being positioned for the office. He was close to Tinubu. He has the experience – has been in the House of Representatives for almost 20 years; held critical positions, became Majority Leader and finally Speaker. Those are positions that have placed him at an advantage to see the larger governance structures in the country. He has supervised all Committees; helped in budget screening and passage over time. I think that experience has placed him in the right position.

For Special Advisers, people had expected that Wale Edun would even be made Minister. Recall that he has been with the President as Commissioner during his days as Governor of Lagos State.

Dele Alake was Commissioner for Information and Strategy with Tinubu between 1999 and 2007. He is very experienced. I was expecting he will be minister, given his antecedents. During the campaigns, Alake was involved as Director of Media and Strategy.

For me, we are seeing Mr. President’s capability to assemble people who on their own have sufficient pedigree. Look at Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser, NSA.

But while Ribadu was at EFCC, he named some governors – Orji Kalu, Bola Tinubu, Abdullahi Adamu and two others – as “most thieving governors.” Those people are in power now and he comes to work for them. How do you reconcile this?

We listened to him make the allegations that time. But Tinubu himself said he was investigated and nothing was found against him. Even from outside – Interpol investigated him – but they could not pin anything against him.

As for those who have been so labelled, in law, you make allegations but our law does not allow you to just make allegations, you must prove it beyond reasonable doubt. If any of these people had been convicted, they wouldn’t have the audacity to come out to vie for public office. They can’t even aspire to public office.

Back to the suspended CBN Governor. Recall that Tinubu at the Abeokuta campaign said that he was the naira redesign target. Now, he has gone after the man who did it. People are alleging vendetta. Your take?

The architect of misery to Nigerians during that period was Emefiele. To me, Tinubu’s statement was trivial by virtue of the burden placed on Nigerians that period. The impact of that policy was horrible. People died. Millions woke up at 2am to go and queue at banks to collect just N2,000 on a daily basis. Nobody was begging for doles but merely asked for what they had saved in the banks. Emefiele’s action was criminal. And I ask: how many people have criticised or condemned President Tinubu’s action in this regard?

Nobody opposed the naira redesign but that he should print enough. Transactions became impossible. You couldn’t transfer or buy things in the market. Very horrible.

The President has done what Nigerians were expecting. It was not targeted at the CBN Governor. The truth was that the man imposed a very horrible policy on Nigerians. Somebody must atone for it. The man killed many people by that policy. It shouldn’t have gone unnoticed or unpunished. I don’t believe it is personal vendetta.

One of the first decisions to address the economy was the floating of the naira exchange system. How do you see that step?

That’s also part of the President’s plan or intention to fight corruption. When you have double or multiple exchange rates, it is an avenue for round tripping. The CBN could make dollars available to some people at N470 and they go to sell the same day at N700 to a dollar. What does that portend? Look at the margin. And they are not manufacturers; just traders in forex. That multiple exchange rates had assisted in bringing the naira value down. The forex traders destroyed the economy.

President Tinubu said from day one that the CBN would have to merge the rates. I believe our economy will emerge stronger from the floating of the exchange rates. It may be difficult initially but we can’t make progress with multiple exchange rates. We’ve done it before and the naira has not regained its original value. This is the first time we are seeing the currency self-adjusting. The decision is salutary.

As an experienced politician, how do you react to how your party, APC, and Presidency insisted that some people must be leaders of the 10th National Assembly and they emerged so? Are we not going towards having a rubber stamp Assembly?

That’s the argument of some people who have commented on the role of the party. But you must note that the party is the platform that produced this government. So, it can’t stand aloof for some people to be allowed to have a free range. What the party has done was to say if the President is from the South West, the VP from the North East and both are Muslims, we should have a balance and produce a Christian Senate President. The Muslim-Muslim ticket was a major problem the party contended with during the campaigns. CAN and a large population of Christians were unhappy. Some worked against the party, saying it was an attempt to Islamise the country; that it was a non-inclusive way to run the country.

Having won and you are having an election of NASS leadership, the party said it was time to have a balance. Should we have a Senate President who is a Muslim again? What the party did was to arrange its things to show Nigerians that it cared about and was ready to assuage their feelings. If the party had done nothing, the story would have been different. What it did was to create orderliness. And the President has assured that it is not a question of the National Assembly being a rubber stamp. The question is who among the officers of the 10th NASS is not strong enough to be his own man? Akpabio was Commissioner, Governor for eight years, Senator and Minister. Who can dictate to him?

Some years back, the party or the President would just have allowed them to go and do it and then we would have problems. It was possible that what we had in 2015 – Senator Bukola Saraki becoming the Senate President and Ike Ekweremadu who was not a member of the ruling party becoming Deputy Senate President – was due to the absence of leadership.

But the party and President Tinubu said now, we are interested; we need these other arms of government as partners. We don’t have three governments but three arms of the same government. So, how come the rubber stamp? They are all from the same political party, why should they work at cross purposes? But they can collaborate and the President is willing to go on that route. There must be concessions; that does not amount to rubber stamping. If they are men and women of honour and integrity, it is logical they live in mutual respect and harmony.

The issue of rubber stamping came as a result of the 2019 experience when then Senate President Ahmed Lawan said they would approve anything Buhari brought to the Assembly.

I am not sure that was the intention if ever he had said so. That is not what the new President wanted. If you submit a bill, the lawmakers still have the right to examine whether all aspects are right or wrong and at the end come to a meeting point. I think that is what the issue of working in harmony entails.

People said Tinubu should not carry the baggage of those with corruption hanging on their necks. How do you explain that against Akpabio who is facing charges from the EFCC involving about N40billion?

If you have that kind of allegation against you, you can run but can’t hide. Our law presumes you innocent until found guilty. Has he been convicted? He couldn’t have been a Minister or Senator if he has been convicted. The allegations are still in the realm of speculation. The President and party’s support for him was a demonstration of leadership that things were done as quickly and effectively as possible.

I refer you again to the issue of fuel subsidy removal. I can’t see under what administration including the military that such a decision was taken and resolved within a week. Even those who did not vote for President Tinubu are praising his audacity or courage. Even with the NASS leadership issue, he met people individually at home to encourage them to vote for the party’s choices. Those who were gallivanting about asking for tickets to be this or that, what was the result? It was a majority vote in both chambers. Even in the House, each member as soon as they were called mentioned who they wanted to vote for. Did Tinubu go there to order them? No.

The next critical issue is ministerial appointment. Nigerians are saying no to recycling of former Buhari ministers. What is your view?

The first thing to appreciate is that Mr. President wants to assemble those who will assist him to execute his programme, his manifesto. We can see those who had worked with him before. He has the capacity to select those who can deliver. Whether he takes those who have served before or new hands, let us concede to him that it is his government and he would want to succeed. I can assure you he will select the best. Some people are lobbying but the ultimate decision is his. If he wants to live up to his promise, he will need the right set of people. It won’t matter whether some of them are recycled.

Finally, how do you see the new Students’ loan scheme of Mr. President?

It is a welcome development. The President knows where the shoe pinches. Many students drop out because of lack of capacity. Cost of education has risen astronomically even in primary and secondary schools particularly in private ones; not to talk of private universities. What the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been talking about is enhancement of the cost of running our education system; making money available for tuition. You can’t be paying peanuts and expect to get the best out of it. The President’s act is to encourage the students to have capacity. It’s salutary and the best way to go. It might not totally address the issues but as we go along, if the students pay the right fees, the universities will have enough resources to run their schools.

And the parents, when you obtain loans for your children, they won’t encourage them to go on strike. How many private universities’ staff go on strike? None, because the students pay the right fees.

But there is a gap between what the public universities require and what the students pay. And the government is saying it cannot do it alone. Now, parents will contribute. We have to commend Mr. President for the audacity over the decisions he has taken so far. The initiative of the Students Loans will change the face of education in this country.