Reforms: Okonjo-Iweala’s Commendation Validates Tinubu’s Progressive Leadership

Folashade Adeniran
Aug, Fri, 2025

General News

Reforms: Okonjo-Iweala’s commendation validates Tinubu’s progressive leadership — Support group

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By Adeyemi Adeleye

The Tinubu Media Force (TMF), a support group for President Bola Tinubu, says Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s recent remarks on Nigeria’s economic trajectory is a clear and independent validation of Tinubu’s progressive governance.

The TMF National Coordinator, Mr Oluwagbenga Abiola, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

Abiola was reacting to Okonjo-Iweala, ‘s commendation of the President’s economic policies.

Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of World Trade Organisation(WTO), on Thursday commended Tinubu for working to stabilise the economy, saying his administration’s reforms are moving in the right direction.

Okonjo-Iweala, a globally respected economist and a former Minister of Finance, spoke to State House correspondents after a courtesy visit to the President on Thursday in Abuja.

He said: “For the Tinubu Media Force, this endorsement is further proof that the administration’s reforms are laying the right foundations for sustainable growth.

“Economic data support this view. Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.13 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, with the services sector surging by over 5 per cent.

“The Tinubu administration is targeting 7 per cent annual growth by 2027 and a quadrupling of the economy by 2030, anchored on a rebased GDP of N372.8 trillion. Key reforms span energy, transport, education, agriculture, and industry.”

Noting that education remains a flagship priority for Tinubu’s administration, Abiola said that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had disbursed over N104 billion to no fewer than 600,000 students in federal tertiary institutions.

According to him, this includes N20.07 billion in tuition payments to 192,906 students and N12.82 billion in stipends to 169,114 students.

“With over 9,000 applications processed daily, the scheme has been described as a lifeline for Nigerian families,” he said.

On infrastructure, Abiola said that the administration was driving landmark projects such as the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, projected at $11 billion to connect nine states and create millions of jobs.

“Work on the first 47.47km segment is underway, backed by $747 million in funding,” he said.

Abiola said that other major road projects include the 1,000km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, dualisation of the Kano–Maiduguri Road, rehabilitation of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, completion of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road, and reconstruction of over 330 roads and bridges across the country.

According to him, beyond roads, the government has launched construction of 10,000 affordable housing units, expanded the national health insurance scheme to include children, improved passport processing, and stabilised electricity supply across board.

He said that the government has also commissioned new federal medical centres for affordable access to health care .

“Agricultural reforms and the introduction of compressed natural gas (CNG) as an affordable transport fuel are also expected to reduce food and transportation costs,” he said.

According to him, the proposed tax reform bill also aims to ease burdens on low and middle income earners by eliminating regressive levies, simplifying tax collection, and focusing more on high income sectors and large corporations.

Commending Okonjo-Iweala for her “objective and fact-based” analysis, Abiola urged commentators to evaluate the administration’s performance on measurable achievements rather than partisan narratives. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Buhari Bolaji

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