President Bola Tinubu has vowed to fight for re-election in 2027, warning that anyone seeking to take the presidency from him should be ready for a tough contest to the finish.
Tinubu spoke on Tuesday while receiving members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), led by its president, Most Rev. Matthew Ndagoso, at the State House, Abuja.
He dismissed concerns over the neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting the electoral body had not intimidated any political party.
“I asked for this job. I’m in it. Those who will take it from me will try. They will try. All is fair in politics, and it’s equal opportunity,” Tinubu said.
“INEC, you mentioned, is neutral. They’ve never, never intimidated anybody. If political opponents are crying wolves, maybe they are afraid of their own shadows and the uncertainty in the companies they keep, not me.”
He added that he would not make things easy for his challengers.
“I’m ready, but I won’t give them a red carpet. I won’t offer them the leash to tie me and rope me. No, we wrestle each other to the finishing point,” he said.
Tinubu also defended his administration’s record, saying living standards were improving despite the challenges he met on assuming office.
“The quality of life is improving. Our founding fathers did their best; they lived for the nation, and we owe it to our generations yet unborn to build the nation of unity, stability and prosperity for the future, to educate our people,” he said.
He pointed to the absence of strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as evidence of progress, telling the bishops their children were completing university courses on schedule.
“None of your children in the university today, and I will say all of them are your children, the reverend fathers. You can’t say a four-year course is not four years. ASUU is not on strike. They are not bringing agony to your homes. Is that not an answer to our prayers? To me, that’s an answer.”
On insecurity, Tinubu acknowledged the scale of the problem but said his government inherited it and was working to address it.
“The security situation is what it is. We don’t have another country, but here, this Nigeria. And then we revert to our national anthem. In this complexity, diversity, we shall thrive, live, rejoice and be good to all of us, as humanity,” he said.
“The challenges are there. I inherited it. I didn’t run away.”
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