President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken a swipe at the African Democratic Congress’ chieftains, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rauf Aregbesola.

“I can only stand before you and say you will not regret it. That is why we ask you to renew their hope. If they don’t want to see the hope and the roads and bridges, and the children we raise, the economy we are growing, we shall lend them Jigi-Bola, eyeglasses,” Mr Tinubu said on Thursday while receiving a delegation of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors led by Governor Hope Uzodimma at the State House.

Mr Tinubu pledged to sustain reforms aimed at creating more opportunities for poor and vulnerable citizens.

On Tuesday, Mr Aregbesola, the national secretary of the ADC, launched an attack on Mr Tinubu, describing his Renewed Hope Agenda as a scam.

The next day, Mr Abubakar revealed that he would reverse every action and policy carried out by Mr Tinubu if he becomes Nigeria’s president in 2027.

“Everything is wrong with President Tinubu. Honestly, in my life, this is the worst administration that I have seen in this country,” said Mr Abubakar.

“The country is collapsing, and if you allow it to go further, it would be worse,”  Mr Obi said during the ADC convention in Abuja on Tuesday. “We need to work as a united Nigeria for the sake of Nigeria. The country is so divided, so we need unity. The present government has ensured that we remain more divided. Our unity is important.”

Mr Obi added, “If you check your indices, when the present government came into being, our poverty rate was 41.6% and eight million people. Today, we are 63% and 140 million people. So they have almost doubled that.

“When this government came into being, we removed the petroleum subsidy to stop borrowing for services and use the money to develop the country. Today, we are about 200 trillion in debt. Worse still, this government owes contractors; no projects of 2025 have been funded. We have a huge debt and have borrowed more.”