President Bola Tinubu has declared that anyone hoping to remove him from office in the 2027 presidential election should be prepared for a tough political contest, saying he has no intention of making the race easy for his opponents.
The President made the remark on Tuesday during a meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where he said elections are competitive and every candidate has an equal chance to seek office.
“Those who would take it from me will try. They will try. All is fair in politics, and there is equal opportunity.
“I won’t offer them a red carpet. I won’t offer them the leash to tie me at home.
“No, we will wrestle each other to the finishing point. That’s the truth. That is fair in politics,” he said.
Tinubu also rejected claims that the Independent National Electoral Commission was working in favour of any political party, insisting that the electoral body had remained impartial.
He argued, “INEC is neutral. It has never, ever intimidated anybody. If political opponents are crying wolf, then they are afraid of their own shadows and the uncertainty in the company they keep.”
Highlighting his administration’s achievements, the President said ongoing reforms were beginning to produce results. He pointed to the stability in public universities, noting that students were now completing their academic programmes without disruptions caused by strikes.
“None of your children in university today—and I would say they are all your children because you are Reverend Fathers—can say a four-year course is not four years.
“ASUU is not on strike. They are not bringing agony to your homes. Is that not an answer to our prayers? To me, that’s an answer,” he said.
Tinubu admitted that his administration inherited major economic difficulties but maintained that efforts to address them had started yielding positive outcomes.
“This government has stabilised, and there is prosperity on the horizon. The quality of life is improving,” he said.
“I inherited it. I didn’t run away. I asked for this job. I’m in it,” he added.
Speaking on the issue of mission schools, the President said state governments have the constitutional authority to return such schools to their original owners, urging the Catholic Church to engage governors directly on the matter.
He also appealed to Nigerians to remain united despite the country’s security and economic challenges, saying future generations deserved a peaceful, stable and prosperous nation.
“The security situation is what it is. We don’t have another country but here.
“This Nigeria. And we revert to our national anthem: in its complexity and diversity, we shall thrive, live, rejoice and be good to all of us.
“Our founding fathers did their best. They left us a nation, and we owe it to our generations yet unborn to build a nation of unity, stability and prosperity for the future.”