According to the report from the Sun, Former President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU), Dr. Jonathan Asake, has criticized the handling of Nigeria’s economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, stating that the nation has yet to see tangible results from the savings accrued from the removal of the fuel subsidy. Asake described claims that the reforms are yielding positive outcomes as insincere.
Asake, who was the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023 Kaduna State governorship election, also commented on the North’s resistance to the proposed tax reforms, labeling it a sign of “laziness.” He advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to prioritize a presidential candidate from the South East in 2027 if it hopes to regain power.
Reflecting on the promises of the current administration, Asake remarked, “Was it the type of thing Nigerians expected when the then-incoming government had promised them renewed hope? To be very frank, nobody was even expecting this same government to come on board. Nigerians expressed their franchise clearly, and they voted massively for the leader they believed would take Nigeria out of the doldrums, and that is Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party.”
He continued, “For the first time in this country, the common Nigerian masses came together and expressed their desire to change the order of the day. Nigerians wanted a change because of the continuous suffering, exponential inflation, and insecurity under the Buhari-led APC administration.”
Asake asserted that Peter Obi was the true winner of the 2023 presidential election but was denied victory by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He accused INEC of thwarting the will of the people, stating, “INEC deliberately denied him that victory; they denied the Nigerian people who voted massively for him. That was a leader with a clear foresight of where he wanted to take Nigeria.”
He also criticized the country’s economic strategy, emphasizing the lack of production capacity. “Unless Nigeria becomes a country that produces, we cannot get anywhere. If we keep importing and consuming goods we don’t produce, while failing to produce for export, then we are going nowhere,” he said.
He concluded by lamenting the state of governance in Nigeria: “Nigerians knew they were putting up with a government that was highly insufficient and incapacitated. They voted for change but didn’t get the result they wanted.”
