Obafemi George, named in the revised APC Presidential Campaign Council list as a media advisory council adviser, made the remarks in a post shared by ARISE TV on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The revised campaign council list names George as a campaign council adviser with media advisory responsibilities. His post drew immediate attention for its claims about Nigeria’s economic conditions and its suggestion about the conduct of the 2027 election, prompting widespread commentary from political observers and ordinary Nigerians across social media platforms.
“Tinubu has touched millions of lives in the past three years,” George said in the post. “He doesn’t even need to campaign for reelection. INEC should announce him the winner.”
George also claimed in the post that the cost of living has gone down and that inflation is gone. He cited NELFUND and the coastal highway as achievements of the Tinubu administration. NELFUND, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, was established to provide student loans to Nigerians in tertiary institutions, and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a major infrastructure project that the administration has promoted as a flagship development initiative.
As recently as June, however, George himself acknowledged in an interview on ARISE News that Nigerians continue to face rising inflation, high cost of living, and persistent insecurity while defending the administration’s economic direction.
The African Democratic Congress has cited publicly available data showing Nigeria’s poverty rate has risen to 63 per cent, up from about 50 per cent before the removal of petrol subsidy, describing these as figures that reflect the views of ordinary Nigerians living under the APC government.
The ADC also noted that fuel prices have surged by almost 500 percent, from about N255 per liter in May 2023 when Tinubu came into office to around N1,500 per liter in many parts of the country. The party made these observations in a statement issued ahead of the APC campaign council’s inauguration.
Tinubu inaugurated the APC Presidential Campaign Council on Wednesday in Abuja, where he is seeking re-election for a second term.
Senator Abdulaziz Yari serves as director-general of the council, with Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima as chairman and vice-chairman, respectively. Yari, a former governor of Zamfara State, is one of the party’s most senior figures and was among those who played a significant role in brokering alliances ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu, who chairs the campaign council, said at the inauguration that he would not abandon the responsibilities of office for campaign activities, insisting that Nigeria required his full attention as his administration implements its economic reforms.
The APC has scheduled the commencement of its presidential campaign for October 24 in Kaduna.
The presidential and national assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and state assembly elections are slated for February 6, 2027.
The ARISE TV post sharing George’s remarks carried a caption describing the statement as an example of political propaganda, saying, “These guys are experts in propaganda; they recruit the finest brains that lie effortlessly.”
Annual inflation in Nigeria in August remained around 15 per cent, while food inflation was closer to 20 per cent, according to figures reported by The Economist magazine. That is a decline from the peak but remains well above the levels that existed before Tinubu took office.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said on Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day that the past three years under Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into the most severe cost of living crisis in the country’s history. Atiku, who contested and lost the 2023 presidential election against Tinubu, made the remarks in a widely circulated statement released on October 1.
George had not responded to the public reaction to his post at the time of this report. The APC campaign council had also not issued any official statement addressing his remarks about INEC and the 2027 election process.
No provision in Nigeria’s electoral framework permits INEC to declare a candidate winner without conducting a constitutionally mandated election. The Obafemi George remarks on Tinubu’s reelection, and INEC remains unanswered by the commission.
