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Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga has rejected recent criticism of the Bola Tinubu administration by former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, characterising his remarks as those of a former public official with a record of failure while in office.
Onanuga was reacting to comments made by Aregbesola at the African Democratic Congress national convention in Abuja, where the former minister criticised the government’s “Renewed Hope” agenda and accused the ruling party of lacking direction.
Aregbesola had argued that the country was being mismanaged, pointing to economic challenges such as currency depreciation, rising fuel costs and worsening power supply. He also criticised electoral reforms and called for a change in leadership, warning that the current political direction was harmful to Nigeria’s democratic system.
In response, Onanuga in a post on X( formerly Twitter) said Aregbesola’s criticisms lacked credibility, insisting that his own record as governor of Osun State and later as Minister of Interior was marked by significant shortcomings.
No, Rauf. The real scammers are the politicians inside the SPV called ADC.
My attention has been drawn to Rauf Aregbesola’s attack on the Tinubu administration at today’s illegal elective convention of the ADC—a party of desperados and power mongers who, to date, have not… pic.twitter.com/2MzWl8RcnY
— Bayo Onanuga, OON, CON (@aonanuga1956) April 14, 2026
He pointed to salary and pension challenges during Aregbesola’s time in Osun, as well as security lapses and administrative issues during his tenure at the interior ministry, including prison breaks and difficulties in obtaining passports.
“Unfortunately, Aregbesola did not undertake any honest self-reflection on his own record in public office, as governor or as Minister of Interior,” Onanuga wrote.
“It is to Aregbesola’s infamy that Osun became known as a state receiving negative federal allocation and paying just 20 to 30 per cent of normal salaries. It was worse for pensioners in Aregbesola’s Osun State. Many pensioners who relied on their meagre monthly payments died because they were not paid at all,” Onanuga said.
Onanuga further argued that it was inconsistent for Aregbesola to criticise issues such as insecurity, given what he described as failures in managing key responsibilities while in office.
“During his four years, obtaining a Nigerian passport became a nightmarish process, and there were 15 major attacks on correctional facilities in Jos, Abolongo, Imo, Kabba, and Okitipupa, resulting in over 4,000 inmates escaping to join criminal elements.
“For someone who failed so woefully to secure our correctional centres and uphold his duties between 2019 and 2023, it is ironic that Aregbesola now seeks to lecture others on insecurity. Maybe he thinks the entire Nigerian population suffers from amnesia,” Onanuga wrote.
He added that Aregbesola’s immediate successor, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, worked hard to clean up much of the mess left behind, and that current Osun state Governor Ademola Adeleke was “still dealing with the consequences.”
He further defended the Tinubu administration’s policies, acknowledging that reforms had brought challenges but maintaining that steps had been taken to cushion the impact on citizens.
According to him, the government has recorded progress in areas such as wages, inflation management and economic stability, while continuing to implement measures aimed at supporting vulnerable groups.
He concluded by accusing opposition figures of attempting to exploit security concerns for political advantage, urging Nigerians to remain cautious of what he described as politically motivated narratives.
“The Tinubu administration has never shied away from acknowledging that policy reforms have brought unintended consequences, impacting the most vulnerable. However, over the last three years, the government has introduced numerous relief measures to mitigate these effects,” he said
“No, Rauf, the Renewed Hope Agenda is not a scam. The real scammers are the politicians gathered inside the SPV called ADC,” he wrote.
