In an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, former presidential adviser, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has called on the Nigerian leader to forgo a second term and pave the way for a younger generation of leaders ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to the letter, widely circulated on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed urged President Tinubu to “step aside—not for your opponents, but for a new generation of Nigerians who can carry the nation forward with fresh energy and ideas.”
Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice President, argued that Tinubu’s most dignified political exit would be to voluntarily retire and support new leadership.
“Our generation has done its time,” he wrote. “It would be a masterstroke if you and your party yielded the field to new voices and new leadership. That way, you could catalyse a peaceful, historic transformation and inspire a new political culture rooted in merit, unity, and progress.”
He urged the president to reflect on his legacy and warned against being consumed by re-election ambitions.
“You hold what your opposition lacks: the power to reduce the harshness of life for the average Nigerian. Use it well. Watch 2027, yes—but don’t become consumed by it,” Baba-Ahmed cautioned.
While acknowledging that the Tinubu administration inherited a difficult economic situation and an exhausted population, Baba-Ahmed said the president has failed to convert the early optimism into effective governance.
He criticised the administration’s signature policy agenda, the Renewed Hope Agenda, as “a set of campaign promises, not a coherent governance plan.” He also questioned the competence of Tinubu’s cabinet, claiming that “more than half has no business managing an administration tasked with improving security, livelihoods, or public trust.”
The former aide also disclosed that during his 18-month tenure, he never had a one-on-one meeting with the president—further evidence, he suggested, of Tinubu’s distant leadership style.
“If you shift attention now to electoral ambitions, you risk losing both governance momentum and public goodwill,” he warned. “If you win again without reforming your style and strategy, you may spend four more years preserving failure. If you lose, your legacy could be wiped out in an instant.”
Baba-Ahmed noted widespread dissatisfaction across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
“The North is drifting from your leadership under the weight of economic hardship, insecurity, and alienation. The East remains politically disengaged, while the South-South is fragmented. The South-West has been lukewarm, and its privileged position may become a burden. The North-East is deeply wounded and can no longer be taken for granted,” he stated.
He accused Tinubu of isolating himself from both the people and potential allies.
“Your closed-door style of leadership, your apparent indifference to complaints of ethnic bias in appointments, and the perception that you frequently run the country from abroad… have created the image of an isolated leader heading an insular administration,” he wrote.
Baba-Ahmed also criticised the administration’s communication strategy, describing it as “a crowd of spokespersons who often confuse rather than clarify your policies.”
Reacting to the letter, Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga dismissed Baba-Ahmed’s criticisms, attributing his remarks to the timing of his recent resignation.
“President Tinubu is unfazed by the attacks of Baba-Ahmed and his co-travellers. We await his so-called revelations,” Onanuga said.
Meanwhile, Senator Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), defended the administration’s track record. Speaking on Channels Television, Basiru rated Tinubu’s government at 78 percent and highlighted key achievements including the launch of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and CreditCorp to expand consumer credit.
“We have stimulated agricultural production, which has contributed to a downward trend in food inflation. We have also addressed the shortage of funds for infrastructure development,” Basiru said, citing major projects such as the coastal highway and rail expansion.
Despite growing internal critiques, the Tinubu administration maintains that its reforms were on course, while political observers watch closely to see how the president will respond to rising calls for generational leadership change.
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