A Senior Consultant and Public Affairs analyst, Abdulsalam Suleiman, on Thursday said former presidential spokesman, Doyin Okupe needs a new thinking cap following his comment that President Bola Tinubu might not run for a second term.
Suleiman said Tinubu deserves a second term because his administration is making efforts to revive Nigeria’s economy, which his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari left comatose.
Speaking with DAILY POST, Suleiman maintained that Tinubu is contributing massively to Nigeria’s economy by revamping the comatose Port Harcourt Refinery, as well as through his policies in the oil and financial sectors.
He also insisted that it’s currently the turn of the South to produce Nigeria’s presidenct, hence Okupe can’t suggest that Tinubu won’t run for a second term.
Okupe had stirred anger when he said the Presidency will not return to the North even if Tinubu will not contest for a second term in 2027.
He had said: “We rotate between the North and the South. The North does eight years, at the end of which the South does eight years.
“I’m not saying that Bola Tinubu must be president in 2027, but it’s not going to be a northerner.”
Faulting Okupe’s stance, Suleiman said: “The President is making some significant contributions to the revival of the oil sector of the economy.
“By getting the Port Harcourt refinery to run is a major contribution to the revival of the economy which has become comatose after Buhari’s administration.
“I try to see a different reason why somebody like Doyin Okupe would suggest that Tinubu can’t run in 2027, it’s not so because it’s the turn of the South to produce the president now and they are qualified to have the eight years.
“If the man on the seat is running well and is making some recoveries by saving from the oil sector, reviving some refineries, and regulating the banking sector then all you need to do is encourage him because the man you know now is better than the one you don’t know. This is my disagreement with Okupe when he was trying to suggest that it may not be Tinubu in 2027.
“How did you come to that conclusion when it’s not yet 24 months that Tinubu came into power? He has been facing some hurdles, obstacles were laid, land mines were laid along the political terrain for him and he has been clearing some of them very well.
“Being able to keep the country together in the face of terrorism embarrassment we are facing, I think he deserved to be considered if he continues like this till 2027.
“We have no need to continue to pretend that nothing good is being done in this country by the Tinubu administration.
“Doyin Okupe and those listening to him should remember that one of the first high hurdles the Tinubu government had to face was the non-provision for fuel subsidy payment in the 2023 budget by the Buhari Administration.
“From thence the new government has taken the bull by the horns, building infrastructure in new roads, bridges to link the north and south, creating new, more relevant ministries, departments and agencies which is currently bringing the government closer to the good people of this great country.
“No President has assisted state governments with palliatives like this within two years. For any right-thinking Nigerian person to imagine, or think that Bola Ahmed Tinubu may not be massively voted for in 2027, then there is the need for a new large thinking cap, as urgent as yesterday.
“For emphasis, we know, this government is not yet two years in office. Now, as individuals that make up the country, what is our contribution in the areas of security, agriculture, schools maintenance and community leadership.”
Analyst, Suleiman tackles Doyin Okupe over comment on Tinubu’s second term