Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila has said that President Bola Tinubu should be allowed to finish what he started.

Mr. Gbajabiamila, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, made the call during a dialogue session of the Northern Caucus of the National Forum of Former Legislators in Abuja on Saturday.

“President Tinubu is not just a southern leader; he is a national leader who has carried every region along. From critical infrastructure to policy reforms, the North is benefitting from a government that believes in equity and shared prosperity,” Mr Gbajabiamila said. 

He added, “We are laying solid foundations today, and it is only right that the President is allowed to finish what he started.”

Mr Gbajabiamila’s plea to northerners and Nigerians at large comes ahead of preparations for the 2027 presidential election, while Nigerians lament hunger and rising poverty under Mr Tinubu’s watch.

Kayode Fayemi, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress and a former governor of Ekiti State, blamed Mr Tinubu’s government for the widespread hunger in the country.

“Except we are deceiving ourselves; Nigerians are not happy with the Tinubu-led government due to widespread hunger and lack of money,” Mr Fayemi said in a viral video.

Since Mr Tinubu assumed office, removing the fuel subsidy and enforcing exchange rate unification, Nigerians have witnessed unprecedented inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

With pump prices jumping from N145 to about N900, while the naira collapsed to N1,500 to a dollar, inflation now stands at 23.7 per cent, a drop from 34 per cent after rebasing the economy.

The World Bank’s Africa Pulse report for April 2025 stated that Nigeria, under Mr Tinubu, has the highest number of extremely poor people globally, warning that more Nigerians will be plunged into poverty by 2027.