Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari, has said that he has never seen a Nigerian president with better plans for the country than President Bola Tinubu in four decades of political involvement.
Masari made the bogus statement while addressing a group of women at a recent public function in Kaduna, which was originally published on Tuesday by HM Arewa, an Hausa-language media platform.
“Even if I were asked to swear, on my age and my political involvement for almost 40 years, I can confidently say I have never seen a president with better plans to make Nigeria great than Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I have simply never seen anyone like him,” he said.
Masari said those who claim Tinubu has done nothing are repeating a pattern of criticism witnessed during previous administrations.
He cited the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying critics raised issues of sectionalism and tribalism after Obasanjo’s first four years in office.
Masari also said similar criticisms were directed at the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that the same pattern is being replicated under Tinubu.
“The people who claim that Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done nothing are the kind of people who never appreciate when someone is doing well,” he said.
“A short look at our history shows that in 1999, after Obasanjo finished his first four years, these same people came out with issues of sectionalism and tribalism.
“They did the exact same thing to Goodluck Jonathan, and that is exactly what they are doing now.
“Those among them who are still alive, along with the ones they raised to think the same way, are the ones behind this.”
The former governor of Katsina State added that some of the critics also try to whip up religious sentiments as though each religion exclusively belongs to a particular ethnic group.
“What surprises me about our people when they talk about religion is this, is religion exclusive to the Hausa, the Yoruba, or even the Igbo?” he asked.
He appealed to women preachers to use their influence to discourage divisive rhetoric as the 2027 election gathers momentum.
“Each and every one of you knows how to talk to her husband or children better than anyone else can,” Masari said.
“This divisive talk is only being pushed by people who are deeply selfish.”
Masari served as speaker of the lower chamber of the national assembly between 2003 and 2007 during Obasanjo’s second term in office.
He was governor of Katsina between 2015 and 2023 and, in August, was appointed deputy director-general, parliamentary mobilisation, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council for Tinubu’s re-election bid.
