Tinubu Has Built Nothing Except Presidential Solar Farm, Audio Projects – ADC

The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC) has taken a fresh swipe at President Bola Tinubu’s administration over its borrowing record.

This was just as it accused the government of failing to deliver tangible infrastructure projects despite accumulating huge debts since assuming office in 2023.

The campaign council described as an insult to Nigerians a statement credited to the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, which stated that “The Question Is What We Build, Not How Much We Borrow.”

In a statement issued on Friday, the ADC-PCC Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, challenged Tinubu to identify concrete projects his administration had delivered with the loans obtained since coming into power.

Ologbondiyan alleged that the only visible project demonstrating the administration’s commitment to electricity supply was a solar farm installed to guarantee power within the Presidential Villa, while millions of Nigerians continued to experience unreliable electricity.

He said the administration had borrowed extensively without delivering corresponding benefits to citizens.

“For three and a half wasted years, Tinubu government has borrowed without restraint and built nothing. No value, no legacy, no impact,” Ologbondiyan said.

He argued that most of the projects being advertised by the administration were inherited from the late President Muhammadu Buhari or existed mainly as announcements and conceptual designs.

“Except for projects inherited from the late President Muhammadu Buhari, many of the projects being advertised by the Tinubu administration are nothing but audio projects. They exist only on paper, as conceptual designs or as announcements on newspaper pages and television screens.

“Under Tinubu, virtually every project exists in a press statement,” he added.

The ADC-PCC spokesperson questioned the progress of several major infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway and Trans-Sahara Superhighway.

“Where is the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway? Audio. Where is the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway? Audio. Where is the Trans-Sahara Superhighway? Audio. Where are the promised electricity grid upgrades? All propaganda, no commensurate progress, just media hype from Bayo Onanuga and his team,” he said.

He also criticised the pace of construction on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Highway, noting that the project, which was awarded more than eight years ago, remained a source of concern for motorists.

Ologbondiyan further accused the administration of neglecting citizens’ welfare amid rising economic hardship, hunger and insecurity.

“Mr President must wake up and confront the reality facing Nigerians, if there is still left between now and January 16.

“Citizens are hungry and enduring excruciating hardship. People are dying from hunger, insecurity and deprivation, while the government remains preoccupied with propaganda and self-congratulatory statements.

“These are the real signposts of what the Tinubu administration has built in almost four years,” he stated.

The ADC-PCC also alleged that government ministries and agencies were struggling to perform their responsibilities, describing the country’s situation as a consequence of what it called the administration’s lack of a convincing development blueprint.

“The Tinubu Presidency came into power without a convincing blueprint or workable ideas and, after almost four years, has offered Nigerians little beyond failure, hardship, poverty and insecurity.

“If borrowing is truly for development, let President Tinubu show Nigerians one tangible project his administration has delivered with its trillions of naira in loans, beyond the solar farm in the Presidential Villa,” Ologbondiyan said.

He maintained that the administration’s most visible achievement was the economic hardship Nigerians were experiencing.

“The only thing this administration has successfully built is hardship,” he declared.

The campaign council subsequently appealed to international donors, development partners and financial institutions to exercise greater scrutiny before extending additional loans to Nigeria.

It argued that borrowing was not inherently wrong but insisted that loans must translate into improved living conditions for citizens.

“Nigerians must not be compelled to continue financing the luxury, profligacy and privileged lifestyle of those in power while ordinary citizens wallow in poverty.

“Future generations should not be burdened with debts incurred without demonstrable benefits to them,” the statement added.

The ADC-PCC also called on the National Assembly to scrutinise the president’s borrowing requests and exercise its constitutional responsibility rather than approving loans without adequate examination.

“The National Assembly must rise to its constitutional responsibility and save the country from being mortgaged through indiscriminate borrowings. It must stop acting as a rubber stamp for every loan request and defend the economic future of Nigeria.

“History will not forgive the 10th National Assembly if it stands by while the country is plunged deeper into a cycle of unsustainable indebtedness,” Ologbondiyan said.