Candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in the 2024 Ondo State governorship election, Dr Abbas Mimiko, says he will support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

Mr Mimiko stated this on Sunday while speaking with journalists in Akure, noting that Mr Tinubu had recorded notable achievements that could secure him another term in office.

The former ZLP governorship candidate described the removal of fuel subsidy by Mr Tinubu as a courageous leadership decision, adding that previous administrations had failed to take such a step.

Mr Mimiko, younger brother of a former governor of the state, Olusegun Mimiko, said no president since 1999 had taken such a politically risky decision, despite widespread recognition of the subsidy’s unsustainability.

He said, “Tinubu chose to do the painful but necessary thing. All those who came before him knew subsidy was unsustainable but lacked the courage to remove it. It was a do-or-die situation for the economy.”

He acknowledged that the increase in fuel prices had worsened economic hardship but urged Nigerians to pay closer attention to how state governors were utilising increased federal allocations.

“The percentage increase in what states now receive is multiple times the percentage increase in fuel prices.

“Nigerians should be asking their governors what they are doing with these resources. Why are these monies not visibly improving the lives of ordinary citizens?” he asked.

Mr Mimiko also credited Mr Tinubu with playing a significant role in Nigeria’s democratic evolution, particularly in the recovery of electoral mandates in some states.

“Without people like him, the mandates of former governors of Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Edo States may never have been recovered. People conveniently forget his sacrifices for democracy because he is now president.

“Perhaps my elder brother would not have become governor if people like Tinubu had not stood up for Ondo State. We owe him that debt. I had supported him before he became president and I will still support him again,” he said.

Mr Mimiko maintained that although he remains a member of the ZLP, he would work for Mr Tinubu’s re-election, describing political parties as mere vehicles.

“I am in the ZLP, which I have been for years, and I will remain there because I don’t look at party the way many people do. Parties are just a vehicle. That is why it is easy for me to support the President, despite being in the ZLP while Tinubu belongs to the APC,” he said.

He added that he supports any leader, regardless of party affiliation, who he believes is delivering dividends of democracy.

“One good term deserves another,” he said.

(NAN)