Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said President Bola Tinubu inherited a severely distressed economy in 2023, claiming that 27 states could not pay workers’ salaries and pensions when the administration took office.
Akpabio made the claim on Monday when members of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions, TETFund and NELFund, led by its chairman, Senator Dandutse Mohammed, paid him a courtesy visit at his residence in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
His Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, disclosed the statement in a release issued in Abuja on Tuesday, August 25.
According to Akpabio, the economic situation confronting Tinubu at the beginning of his administration was dire, but he argued that government policies had since improved the situation.
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“The current President has done a lot for Nigerians. He met an economy in shambles. When he came in, 27 states could not pay salaries and pensions, but today, the story has changed because of his reengineering and thinking out of the box. In 2027, Nigerians will separate the chaff from the grains and re-elect President Tinubu for a second term in office.
“We have a President who thinks outside the box, bringing about innovation. We will have something to tell Nigerians about the unprecedented achievements of Mr President at the campaign grounds. Someone who is challenging him cannot even tell us what he did when he was governor.
“I can tell you what I did when I was the governor of my state. We will tell them a lot. Those in the opposition know too well the achievements of this government in the area of the economy, agriculture, security, education and fiscal policy, but because they are in the opposition, they won’t say it.”
The Senate president’s assessment comes as the Tinubu administration prepares to defend its record ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the economy expected to remain a major issue in the political contest.