Economic hardship: APC chieftain urges President Tinubu to act swiftly

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called on President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action to address the economic hardships faced by Nigerians.

Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Osogbo, Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, expressed confidence in the President’s ability to bring relief but stressed the need for faster action and strategies that would provide instant reprieve.

Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), highlighted the suffering of Nigerians due to increased fuel prices, rising food costs, electricity tariffs, and cooking gas prices, all of which have made life unbearable.

He stated that the recent hike in fuel prices has exacerbated the hardship that Nigerians are already enduring, adding, “Nigerians are hopeful that there will be a positive turnaround in the country, but measures to achieve this must be accelerated.”

In his words: “There is no doubt that the President is doing everything humanly possible to ameliorate the suffering of the masses, but a faster approach must be considered.

“The President should ensure that every bureaucratic bottleneck impeding the swift implementation of policies that would put smiles on the faces of the masses is removed.

“The economic suffering the masses are currently experiencing is becoming unbearable, and the President must act fast.”

Oyintiloye also urged the President to address the delay in implementing the suspension of customs duties and taxes on imported food items, two months after the initiative was announced.

The former lawmaker noted that since the initiative was meant to combat rising food inflation across the country, there should be no delay in its execution.

Oyintiloye recalled that on August 7, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, assured that the implementation of the policy would commence the following week once the guidelines were ready, lamenting that, to date, the policy has yet to be implemented.

He remarked, “There is no doubt that the President is passionate and willing to put smiles on the faces of the masses, but those in charge of implementing these policies should not be seen as roadblocks.

“The President gave a directive to the Nigeria Customs Service for a 150-day duty-free window to allow the importation of maize, husked brown rice, and wheat, yet almost two months later, this has not been implemented.

“That is not good enough. The President cannot be everywhere, which is why his foot soldiers must be proactive in taking steps to achieve the President’s goals.

“The masses are angry and hungry. Therefore, all measures to alleviate this suffering should be implemented very quickly.”

He appealed to those responsible for drafting the guidelines for the policy’s implementation to do the needful, adding that the initiative, once implemented, would lower food prices without negatively impacting local production.

Oyintiloye urged Nigerians to continue supporting the President, noting that while current policies may seem painful, they will bring significant benefits in the long run.