Tinubu said “I Won’t Abandon Governance for Campaign” – And That is Exactly What a True Leader Should Say, By Fattykolly Ibn Alimi

At the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council this week, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu said something that has unsettled his enemies and confused the lazy critics.

He said: “I won’t abandon governance for campaign.”

Simple. Clear. Presidential.

But as usual, those who have no message have twisted it. They are now whispering in corners and typing on X: “Tinubu said that because he has no strength to tour 36 states.”

What a shameful, lazy, and wicked lie.

Let us face the truth these critics don’t want you to remember.

THIS IS NOT WEAKNESS, IT IS WISDOM. IT IS CALLED LEADERSHIP.

What did they want the President to say? That he will lock up Aso Rock, abandon the economy, abandon security meetings, abandon fuel supply, abandon minimum wage, abandon the entire country and be jumping from airport to airport dancing on campaign stages for 6 months?

Is that the President Nigeria needs?

Nigeria is not a country that can afford a part-time President. And President Tinubu knows it.

When he took over on May 29, 2023, he inherited a country that was on oxygen. Fuel subsidy was bleeding N18.4 billion daily. Forex backlog was $7 billion. Debt service was gulping 96% of our revenue. Bandits were collecting tax. The economy was on its knees.

In two years, this same man they call “no strength” has taken the hardest decisions no President in 30 years had the courage to take. He removed subsidy. He floated the naira. He cleared the forex backlog. He started paying the debts. He made Dangote Refinery work. He approved N70,000 minimum wage. He is rebuilding the Kaduna-Abuja-Kano road, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto-Badagry Highway. He is funding student loans.

You call a man who works till 2am every day, who holds security meetings every morning, who reads every memo – you call him weak?

The opposition thinks campaign is about who can jump highest on stage. Tinubu knows campaign is about who can show results at home.

LET THEM COMPARE – WHO IS STRONG?

The man they call weak has been to more states commissioning projects in two years than many former Presidents did in four years.

The man they call weak sat through a 9-hour FEC meeting last week. The man they call weak personally chaired the National Economic Council meeting. The man they call weak received security briefings, then met with investors, then met with governors, all in one day.

The man they call weak is 73 and still wakes up before many 40-year-old governors.

Strength is not about how many states you tour with a rented crowd. Strength is about how many problems you can solve without running away from your desk.

Ask yourself: When your family is sick, do you want a father who is at home looking for medicine, or a father who is outside dancing and campaigning that he will be a good father tomorrow?

That is what Tinubu is saying. “My children are hungry today, I will feed them today. I will not leave them to go and promise other people’s children that I will feed them tomorrow.”

GOVERNANCE IS THE BEST CAMPAIGN

This is the lesson many of our politicians have never learnt.

Buhari campaigned in 36 states in 2014. Atiku has campaigned in 36 states 7 times. What did they leave behind? Broken promises.

Tinubu is telling us something deeper: My work will campaign for me.

When a farmer in Kebbi now gets fertilizer without knowing a Senator, that is campaign.
When a student in Oyo gets NELFUND loan without knowing a Minister, that is campaign.
When a woman in Aba can now buy fuel without queuing for 3 days, that is campaign.
When a bandit kingpin in Zamfara is taken out by our Air Force, that is campaign.

He does not need to come to your state to dance. You will feel his governance in your pocket, in your child’s school, in your farm, in your street.

Those who are mocking him for not touring 36 states – let us ask them: What did their touring candidate do when he was in power? As Vice President for 8 years and as the man who privatized everything, what did he leave in your state? Where are the jobs? Where are the industries he promised?

A PRESIDENT, NOT AN ENTERTAINER

We have had entertainers. We have had campaigners. What Nigeria needs now is a worker.

President Tinubu is saying: I was elected to govern, not to campaign. The APC PCC has able hands – Kashim Shettima, the National Chairman, the DG, the governors, the legislators – they will go round. I will stay here and do the job you elected me to do.

Is that not what we prayed for? A President who will not abandon Aso Rock for campaign podium?

In 2027, Nigerians will not vote for who toured most. Nigerians will vote for who governed best. Who stabilized the Naira. Who made fuel available. Who tamed banditry. Who gave students loan. Who paid wage award.

And on that day, the man who refused to abandon governance will be vindicated.

So let them continue to whisper “he has no strength.” We the people see the strength where it matters – in the courage to take hard decisions, in the discipline to stay at his desk, in the love to put Nigeria first before his own campaign.

Governance first. Campaign second. That is what a father does. That is what a leader does.

And that is why Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will win again – not because he toured 36 states, but because he worked for 36 states.

TINUBU HAS NOT STOPPED. HE IS JUST WORKING. AND WORK IS STRONGER THAN NOISE.