Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, in this interview offers a critique of President Bola Tinubu’s leadership two years in office.Dalung accuses President Tinubu of weaponizing poverty and alienating the masses. He dissects recent political endorsements, defection dramas, and the growing coalition movement ahead of the 2027 general election. Iniobong Iwok brings the excerpts:
How would you assess President Tinubu’s performance after two years in office?
Tinubu’s performance has been far below expectations. Given his experience as a former governor of Lagos, many Nigerians believed he was well-equipped to lead and deliver results. Unfortunately, from day one, he dashed those hopes, especially with the abrupt removal of fuel subsidy without a proper government structure in place. That move signaled a lack of preparedness and understanding of the nation’s complex realities. Instead of subjecting such a critical policy to public debate or expert review, he imposed it unilaterally, which I consider an act of cowardice, not courage. Overall, his administration’s poor start has led to the difficult situation we face today.
President Tinubu has received numerous endorsements from APC leaders, governors, and the National Assembly. What is your take on these endorsements?
There was a Prophet Adams Oshiomhole who had earlier prophesied that any sinner, even if the person was an armed robber, a bandit or a Boko Haram member, who jumps into the APC’s ship, would have his sins forgiven. So, if you want to understand politically the meaning of these endorsements, you must go back to the prophecy. So, it is not an endorsement as a political reality. It is a conclave of sinners; people who have committed heinous crimes against the Nigerian people and they are jumping into the ship for the forgiveness of their sins. Not that they believe in Tinubu, no; they don’t. They’re only assembling so that their sins will be forgiven. So, it’s a conclave of political cardinals who have committed grave sins against the Nigerian people and a political party has offered them the opportunity of forgiveness on entrance. So, they’re jumping into it and that is why all the endorsements are by APC. So, even if APC has endorsed the President who is also the leader of the party, what advantage or what value has it added? The votes he got were not APC votes; they were the votes of Nigerians. If Nigerians had endorsed him, I would have taken time to make a critical analysis of it. But the APC members, what is their percentage within the Nigerian political demography? So, the endorsement, to me, is what can be referred to as a political caricature of contemporary politics.
In other words, if political beneficiaries defect, have the people defected too?
Take Delta State, for example. The defector is a governor whose mandate was highly controversial and only affirmed by the Supreme Court at the last minute. The more popular candidate stepped aside for the sake of party unity. So, if someone who benefited from such circumstances defects, does that mean the people will follow? Clearly not. A video of the former governor’s return to his hometown showed women strongly rejecting him, a symbolic and politically significant gesture, especially considering the historical role of women in the South-South and South-East regions, like in the Aba Women’s Riot of 1929.
This defection isn’t a mass movement, it’s limited to the governor and some of his cabinet members. In Akwa Ibom, the political godfather who brought the governor to power didn’t follow him to the APC. Many lawmakers and commissioners have refused to defect, with some resigning instead. In a true democracy, leaders consult the people before making such moves. But in this case, the governor admitted openly that he defected because he admired Tinubu’s performance, not because of any public mandate. This defection is personal, not people-driven. So, there is no value added to Tinubu except that he has compounded the situation in his party and there will be an implosion.
Let me tell you this, I’m not a prophet, even if all the 36 state governors, decamp to APC and Seyi Tinubu is appointed the chairman of INEC; Tinubu is going to slog it out with the masses because he is the only president who has drawn a battle line between him and the masses by weaponising hunger, poverty and hardship.
And he is not remorseful about it; rather he is very pretentious, always telling Nigerians to sacrifice for the good days ahead, while he alongside his wife and son are busy living lavish lives, spending lavishly all over Nigeria. When will they sacrifice?
What is your take about the moves by some politicians including Atiku, El-Rufai, and others to form a coalition ahead of 2027? Do you think they will succeed in that coalition?
This coalition is unlike any before; it’s driven by the suffering of the poor. President Tinubu has declared himself the enemy of the poor, and people are dying daily from hunger, poverty, and lack of healthcare. That anger is fuelling the coalition’s popularity. Politicians involved understand the danger of a looming political crisis and are giving the people hope for an alternative. Among the masses, the coalition is widely embraced. Whoever it puts forward may matter less than the shared goal of ending the current hardship.
If united behind a candidate, Tinubu will face one of his toughest political battles no matter the resources he deploys. This coalition is formed by rivals with a common mission: to challenge the status quo.
With El-Rufai joining the SDP, is Adewole Adebayo’s 2027 presidential ambition at risk?
I don’t want to underestimate Adewale Adebayo’s political charisma, his image and personality within the Nigerian political environment. He is an obvious force to deal with in 2027. This is because he is the only presidential candidate who has consistently maintained a media campaign against the failed and unpopular policies of this government.
So, Nigerians are very conversant with his voice, charisma and leadership qualities of Prince Adebayo. So, whether you mobilise the whole politicians into the SDP, you must resolve the question of Adebayo in the SDP as a presidential candidate before any other person.
This is because nobody has promoted the SDP in Nigeria like Adebayo. After Chief MKO Abiola, you rank Adebayo in the contemporary SDP as the highest. So, the concern as some people are expressing concern is normal. Human beings entertain such fears but the reality is that the name SDP since 2023 has been sustained unilaterally by the doggedness, commitment, dedication and selflessness of Prince Adebayo. So, he is a force to beat in whatever political arrangement that the SDP will put on ground to produce a presidential candidate. Prince Adebayo is a patriot. He did not join politics for himself, but he has surrendered the rest of his life to the service of humanity and he did that at his 50th birthday.
So, he is not into politics because it must be him, but he is into politics to ensure that good governance, justice, the rule of law, equity and fairness is reintroduced and reinforced in the governance structure of Nigeria.
So, even if in a free, fair, and transparent process he lost, he will still be a team player in the struggle for a better Nigeria.
Is SDP still in the coalition arrangement?
This question will better be answered by the leadership of the party because I can only speak from the perspective of somebody who is aware of the development going on in the coalition. But I’m aware that the coalition delegation met with the SDP leadership and I am yet to get the details of that discussion, but I think that will be made public after the public holiday. So, I may not be able to say much about that.
Pat Utomi floated a shadow government. What is your view on that?
I have listened to reactions of some APC members referring to it as treason. But, I think they are overwhelmed by failure; their brains do not think normally. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Prince Adebayo and the NC Front constituted a shadow government and I was a member of the cabinet of that shadow government.
What we were doing was to provide alternative policies, alternative and superior policies to existing government policies, so that Nigerians could know that they have alternatives; so that why the government opted out of a better policy would inform the judgment of Nigerians.
So, the shadow government proposed by Professor Utomi, to my understanding, is to provide an alternative think-tank council that will be made up of Nigerians chosen from different professions and experiences, and assembled to be x-raying, analyzing, monitoring and criticizing the propaganda being dished out every day by President Tinubu’s propaganda machine as government policies.
But in a real sense, they are not policies; they are just propaganda. A policy is a well-researched proposal of the government about actions that will influence and improve the wellbeing of citizens.
Therefore, the foundation of a sound policy is broad-based consultation. Let’s take the Calabar Coastal Highway that has been commissioned; 26.7km was commissioned by the President. The first of such caricatures in contemporary governance; 26.6km was commissioned.
So, we need to have about four to five or six presidents to commission such projects. Now, this project failed the litmus test of policy formulation. The President just woke up and then called his friend, Chagoury, Hi-tech, and they gathered with the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi and they awarded a contract and paid N1.7 trillion upfront. They have been demolishing people’s property. They have even demolished an estate of Diasporans, who responded to investment calls, came to Nigeria and invested.
No compensation. An MD of the company, a lady, has been crying and shouting all over and they have ignored her. A policy that destroys everything, claiming to build alternatives is a bad policy.
So, I think Utomi’s thought is to put the government on its toes and to present to the outside world that Nigeria is not deficient in sound brains because the shadow government will be offering in advanced discussion on policies, which foreign investors will appreciate.
So, that will also reinforce confidence in Nigeria and when this government will finally be thrown out by Nigerians, we will have our image and integrity.
Do you agree with those who said that the 10th National Assembly has become a rubber stamp of the executive?
I disagree with those who say the 10th National Assembly is a rubber stamp. It’s worse; it’s a band of ‘Emi L’okan’ choristers for the president. Each time he appears, they burst into songs like excited grandchildren. The last time, I heard them sing, “On your dollar we shall stand, Tinubu.” Others claimed they heard something different, but that was what I heard.
This Assembly doesn’t scrutinize; it obeys blindly. I fear one day, they might wake up and, by voice vote, declare Tinubu life president. Akpabio could just say, “We have a proposal to amend the constitution to appoint Tinubu as life president; those in favour say aye,” and before anyone objects, he hits the gavel, “ayes have it.
This isn’t a rubber stamp assembly, because even a rubber stamp requires something tangible to stamp on. This one acts on mere ideas or hearsay, even a phone call. They are not lawmakers; they are loyal choristers.
