A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dele Momodu, has attributed Nigeria’s current economic challenges to President Bola Tinubu’s alleged attempts to replicate the Lagos State governance model at the federal level.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Momodu faulted Tinubu’s cabinet and governance style.
Momodu however expressed doubts about the qualifications and accomplishments of the ministers in Tinubu’s administration, noting that the president would struggle to name ten ministers and highlight their past achievements before appointment.
He argued that the president’s inner circle is unable to provide him with honest feedback because their lives depend on him.
“Today, God is my witness, if you ask me to name ten ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet and to tell you what they did or did not do before they were appointed, I will struggle,” Momodu said.
“That is the truth. Look, what we have today is that someone transferred the Lagos template to Abuja and that’s why we are failing.
“Nigeria parades some of the greatest human beings on planet earth. I have travelled a bit. There is nowhere up to Australia that I did not meet Nigerians doing great things. Where are those people?
“In today’s Nigeria, it’s either you are the son of, the daughter of… Nigeria cannot continue to operate on the basis of compensation. I must compensate my friends and former schoolmates. No!”
Tinubu served as governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007.
In a recent open letter to Tinubu, Momodu warned that Nigeria is in “big trouble” and described the nation’s economy as having “virtually collapsed.”
He urged the president to cease what he described as a “reckless propensity for wasting scarce resources” and to focus on using funds for serious development projects.