“Tinubu Has Stabilised the Poorly Managed Economy Left by Buhari” — SDP’s Adewole Adebayo

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has praised President Bola Tinubu for stabilising Nigeria’s economy, which he described as poorly managed under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Adebayo likened the economy left by Buhari to “an emergency room patient,” saying Tinubu has prevented it from collapsing. “It’s obvious that the economy that President Buhari left was a poorly managed economy, and was an emergency room patient,” he said. “What President Tinubu has done is to stabilise the patient, but I’m not sure that he has managed to know the ailment. So the patient is not going to die imminently, but he hasn’t found a cure.”

Adebayo noted that while Tinubu has made progress in certain sectors, he has yet to address Nigeria’s fundamental economic problems. “He hasn’t been able to identify the problem, the ailment that is disturbing the patient,” he said. “As an emergency room doctor, he is taking some steps, some of it actually aggravated the case of the patient, but over time, he appears to have one or two wins in two sectors.”

The opposition politician also highlighted Tinubu’s record as a “well-known tax collector,” referencing his work in Lagos and his current efforts at federal tax reforms. “Everybody knows that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a well-known tax collector. He did tax collection in Lagos and he came to do tax collection in Abuja,” Adebayo said.

In June, Tinubu signed four major tax reform bills into law, designed to overhaul Nigeria’s tax system, simplify collection, and ease the burden on low-income earners and small businesses. The new laws are set to take effect from January 1, 2026.