By Law Ibitoye
The Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, has canvassed support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, citing significant achievements of the administration in infrastructure, education, road construction and rehabilitation, passport administration and national security.
Hon Ojo, former House of Representatives member, said that Tinubu deserved a second term to consolidate the gains of his administration, insisting that Nigerians should assess the President based on his performance and the impact of his policies rather than political sentiments.
The FHA boss stated this while interacting with journalists in Ado State on Wednesday, where he reviewed the political journey that culminated in Tinubu’s emergence as President and highlighted some of the achievements of the current administration.
Recounting his involvement in Tinubu’s presidential ambition, Ojo disclosed that he had supported the idea of the former Lagos State Governor becoming Nigeria’s President as far back as 2005/2006.
He also said he’s the brain behind the formation of the South-West Agenda for Asiwaju (SWAGA), a political movement established to mobilise support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition ahead of the 2023 general election.
According to him, the movement undertook extensive consultations with former members of the National Assembly, senators, traditional rulers and other political stakeholders across the South-West to build support for Tinubu.
Ojo maintained that the President’s experience in governing Lagos State provided sufficient evidence of his leadership capacity and ability to manage Nigeria’s complex challenges.
He argued that leadership should be assessed primarily through intellectual capacity, vision and the ability to make critical decisions rather than physical appearance or other superficial considerations.
Highlighting the achievements of the Tinubu administration, Ojo identified ongoing road construction and rehabilitation projects across different parts of the country as evidence of the government’s commitment to infrastructure development.
He specifically referenced major road projects linking Abuja with Nasarawa, Makurdi, Otukpo, Lafia, Enugu, Abia and Owerri, as well as the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridor, noting that the quality of some of the projects reflected the administration’s infrastructure priorities.
He also defended government borrowing, arguing that borrowing was not necessarily harmful when resources were channelled into productive investments capable of improving citizens’ lives and strengthening the economy.
On education, Ojo identified the student loan scheme as one of the administration’s interventions, saying it had created opportunities for students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education.
He equally highlighted improvements in passport administration, noting that Nigerians could now obtain international passports more conveniently compared with the delays that characterised the process in previous years.
On security, the FHA Managing Director acknowledged the challenges confronting the country but maintained that the Tinubu administration was taking steps to strengthen the nation’s response through improved military infrastructure and additional security formations.
He particularly referenced the establishment of a military battalion in Ekiti State, which he said he personally supported while serving in the House of Representatives, describing it as an important intervention in strengthening security in the state.
Ojo also made a strong case for state policing, arguing that decentralised policing would improve emergency response, strengthen security surveillance and enable officers to respond more quickly to criminal activities within their respective communities.
Using Ado-Ekiti as an example, he explained that police officers could be strategically deployed along major entry and exit routes to prevent criminal elements from operating freely.
Speaking on the financial capacity of state governments, Ojo noted that increased federal allocations had provided states with greater opportunities to address developmental challenges, stressing that the effective utilisation of available resources should be a major consideration in assessing government performance.
He, however, challenged opposition presidential aspirants and political parties to make their manifestos public ahead of the 2027 general election, insisting that Nigerians deserved clear alternatives against which to assess the performance of the Tinubu administration.
According to him, opposition politicians should move beyond criticism and political rhetoric by presenting practical programmes and policies capable of convincing Nigerians that they have better solutions to the country’s challenges.
” I want to challenge the other political actors. Let them tell Nigerians what they intend to do better than this administration. Do not just make promises. Tell us what you intend to do,” he said.
Ojo maintained that the 2027 presidential election should be a contest of ideas, competence, track records and development proposals, rather than mere political propaganda.
He urged Nigerians to critically examine what the Tinubu administration had achieved, compare it with the alternatives being offered by opposition parties and make informed decisions about the country’s leadership.
He added that the central question for Nigerians should not merely be what the government had promised but what it had delivered and what it intended to accomplish if given another opportunity to govern.
