Columnist presses Tinubu to set quantified poverty targets
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily Post
Nigerian political journalist Sumner Sambo has called on Bola Tinubu to stop attributing his difficulties to the opposition and to present quantified poverty reduction targets. Speaking on Arise Television on Monday, he said Nigerians expect concrete results before the 2027 presidential election, the Daily Post reports.
The politics editor of Nigerian channel Arise News, Sumner Sambo, has called on President Bola Tinubu to stop attacking the opposition and to focus on fighting poverty in Nigeria. He was speaking on Monday on Arise Television's "Morning Show".
According to Sumner Sambo, Nigerians want to know what the Tinubu government is doing to reduce poverty and hunger, not to hear the executive accuse the opposition. The president should, in his view, present quantified poverty reduction targets, indicate the progress made and set out what Nigerians can expect if he seeks a new mandate in 2027. "What Nigerians want to know is what his government is doing. What has he done to reduce poverty?" he said, calling on the president's speechwriters to put this issue at the forefront. He also believes the current opposition is not the one the government referred to in the past.
The remarks come a year and a half before the 2027 presidential election, in a context where several opposition figures are challenging the president over his economic record. On 7 November, Peter Obi asked Bola Tinubu to account for 15.8 trillion nairas, while Atiku Abubakar accused him of worsening the Nigerian economic crisis. The day before, Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde had called on the president to protect the Nigerian opposition.
