The making of an infinite vote of confidence

At the just concluded All Progressives Congress National Economic Council meeting, which was held at the Blantyre Street Headquarters of the governing party, the seminal contributions from party leaders, governors and NEC members ruled the day. Beyond party politics, Nigeria took center stage. National issues and the current positive trajectory of the reforms under the Bola Tinubu administration easily became the topic of the day. Speaker after speaker spoke unscripted, yet with facts and eloquence. APC leadership in full parade, with President Tinubu leading the charge, was caught in a moment of testimony and confession draped in the colors of patriotic zeal and desire to see a stronger and better Nigeria. The mesage that rechoed across the NEC meeting and across to Nigerians was the fact that Nigeria was gradually turning the curve. The Tinubu Reforms are working, and the gradual transformation of the Nigerian economy was taking shape.

Speaker after speaker rolled out veritable data and clear pointers that the headwinds were clearing for Nigeria to move forward. From Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State to Governor Hope Uzodinma to Senator Adams Oshiomole, the analytic elucidation of the specifics of President Tinubu’s performance and the strong emerging positive signs was very clear. They spoke to many things, all made possible by the boldness the President brought to bear on taking tough decisions with conviction. It was a cascade. The floating of the naira, which was thought to be unwise by some critics, now proves a wide and timely decision as the naira has strengthened against the dollar crashing from N1,890 to N1,470.
The fuel subsidy removal that signaled the oil sector reforms has reduced the pressure on the demand for forex, reduced petrol imports, and given birth to a local refinning capacity of PMS never witnessed before.

Contrary to the gloomy predictions of some ideological antagonists, Nigerians are seeing PMS prices dropping slowly but steadily. The unleashing of market forces and the willing seller and willing buyer principle now fully in play is opening up the economy. And there is more. Foreign reserves have gone up close to $40 billion. GDP in the 4th quarter of 2024 is again up to 3.84. Exports volume is up with over N16 trillion surplus as at January 2024.

In the same vein, oil production is climbing up to 1.7mbd. The student loan program, NELFUND is working, helping many of our young ones to achieve their educational aspirations. Consumer credit scheme being executed by Credit Corp is making purchase of new cars and access to credit easy for thousands of civil servants. Foreign Direct Investment is on the rise. Nigeria is turning out to be one of Africa’s strongest economies. By the time the microphone got to the Rt. Honorable Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the atmosphere was already saturated with applause, claps, and large doses of positive indicators and data that the Tinubu reforms were yielding fruits and Nigerians are beginning to feel the relieving impact.

Rt. Hon. Abbas who had a prepared speech lived up to his credential as a PhD holder with a seminal paper on Tinubunomics and how to lead in troubled times. He reeled out facts. Nigeria’s GDP rose from 2.5 percent to 3.8 percent under President Tinubu.

The improving performance of key sectors under President Tinubu were highlighted. He also dwelt on security, praising Mr. President for realizing that without security, everything else will amount to nothing. Security has improved with well over 30 percent reduction in violent crimes across the nation. When Senator Godswill Akpabio took over, he simply endorsed all that the Speaker said and added his own icing, warning the opposition to continue in their ways. Converts confessed. Doubters became believers, and many hitherto in the dark saw the light at the NEC meeting.

But perhaps the most important aspect of all of these was the Vote of Confidence moved by the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Governor Hope Uzodinma who, before he moved the vote, took his time to slice through the achievements of President Tinubu. He gave a well calibrated rendition with an unusual intellectual depth. The script he delivered was tight and well written and clearly justified the vote of confidence. Before Uzodinma, Governor Abiodun had set the mood and tone of conversation with his effusive commendation on how President Tinubu has set the economy on a new path of growth. Governor Abiodun urged the Chairman of the Progressive Governors forum to move the vote of confidence, but not until he had finished delivering his own eloquent assessment of President Tinubu’s stewardship. It was a vintage delivery loaded with facts about the direction the country was headed. The right direction.

Perhaps the most engaging was the mea culpa delivered by Mr. President himself. The best closer. I offer you Mr. President’s words at NEC today :

“I am happy with your vote of confidence, and I accept it. The vote is a challenge to do more work; we will vigorously pursue our sovereignty in food security, investment and development. I am happy with food prices coming down, especially as Ramadan approaches. The Sun is high, and the sky is bright outside. While the rest of the world unravels, we see growth in Nigeria. We are seeing a gradual return to stability. We are seeing improvements. I thank you, governors. I’m grateful to all Nigerians for the electoral successes recorded from one state to the other. Governors, you have embraced these changes, and I thank the leadership of our party. I also thank members of the National Assembly for expeditiously considering the budget.

“We can only build the party on a progressive platform to deliver good service to Nigerians. Though the journey has been very challenging for us as a ruling party, given the big task we have at hand and the expectations from Nigerians. We can sufficiently submit that we have collectively risen to the occasion and challenges.”

Dare is the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Public Communication