Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris has declared that President Bola Tinubu is not beholden to any cabal or shadowy inner circle.
Instead, he said the president welcomes a wide range of perspectives and then makes bold and informed decisions solely in the best interest of Nigeria.
Idris stated this on Thursday in Abuja, while delivering his address at the National Summit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the theme: “Renewed Hope Agenda: The Journey So Far.”
“You need to study the president very well. You can have your voice; you can say what you want to say; he will listen to you but his decision is ultimately his own. I think it’s important for us to recognise that,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of the summit, Idris said, President Tinubu remains committed to transforming Nigeria through the Renewed Hope Agenda, describing it as a bold, people-first blueprint that is turning obstacles into opportunities.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda,” the Minister said, “is about positively impacting the lives of the people of Nigeria, through bold decisions designed to unleash the full scale of Nigerian potential, in a way that has never been seen or done before.”
He recalled that President Tinubu inherited a nation at a crossroads and immediately moved with clarity and courage.
“Among the first decisions the President made,” Idris explained, “were the removal of petrol and foreign exchange subsidies, which have been amongst the biggest impediments to Nigeria’s progress, costing us billions of dollars in losses and waste annually.”
The Minister noted that “true leadership involves the ability to make decisions that might be tough in the short term, but are guaranteed to deliver lasting returns.”
Idris said the outcomes of the president’s reforms were evident across all sectors through large-scale infrastructure, social investment programmes, revamping of the nation’s mining and petroleum sectors among others.
“At the federal level, the increased revenues have set a new standard for ambition and execution of large-scale infrastructure projects,” Idris said.
He highlighted four signature projects highways — the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, Calabar-Abuja Superhighway, and Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Highway — totaling more than 2,600km and linking communities and economies across the country.
He said, “Another flagship project driving regional integration is the Kano-Kaduna Standard Gauge Railway. This vital corridor is a key component of the Lagos-Kano railway modernisation plan and is being delivered as a priority under the Renewed Hope Agenda. In the housing sector, the administration launched the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Projects, an ambitious intervention aimed at addressing the nation’s housing deficit while stimulating job creation and urban renewal.”
The Minister said to support the growing digital economy, the Federal Government is deploying 90,000km of fiber optic cable nationwide, describing it as “unprecedented scale of broadband infrastructure (that) will not only bridge Nigeria’s digital divide but also support smart governance, attract digital investments, and enable secure e-services in education, healthcare, commerce, etc.”
Idris said about 300,000 Nigerian students are now benefitting from the National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), while workers are accessing the new Consumer Credit Scheme to buy essential goods.
On security, Idris said, “Our military has neutralised and arrested thousands of hostiles and rescued nearly 10,000 hostages. More than 25 new aircraft have been acquired, and the Navy has taken delivery of four new vessels.”
He hailed the president for establishing the Ministry of Livestock Development and Regional Development Commissions across the six geo-political zones in order to modernise and deepen agriculture and also ensure inclusive, zonal development.
The Minister emphasised that the Renewed Hope Agenda was holistic and people-centered.
“At the other end of every programme and policy of the Tinubu Administration is an ordinary Nigerian whose life is being positively impacted. Nigerian enjoying equitable access to personal or business financing; a Nigerian seeing declining food prices; a Nigerian enjoying cheaper means of transportation, through CNG; a Nigerian grateful for access to on-grid or off-grid electricity through one of the administration’s several power initiatives; a Nigerian whose son or daughter can attend university because of NELFUND,” he said.
Idris highlighted the recent enactment of the Renewed Hope Nigeria First policy that mandates all federal ministries, departments and agencies to give absolute priority to Nigerian goods, services, and know-how when spending public funds.
“This,” he said, “is historically unprecedented, with the ultimate objective being to accelerate industrialisation through local production and to insulate the Nigerian economy from global disruptions,” he said.
He commended Tinubu “for this most nationalistic policy, and for laying the foundation of Nigeria’s Economic Renaissance.”
