Tinubu not controlled by cabal– Information Minister

Kunle Sanni

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said President Bola Tinubu is not beholden to any cabal or shadowy inner circle. Instead, he said, the president welcomes a wide range of perspectives and then makes bold and informed decisions that are solely in the best interest of Nigeria.

Idris stated this in Abuja on Thursday while delivering his address at the APC National Summit with the theme “Renewed Hope Agenda: The Journey So Far”.

“You need to study the president very well. You can have your voice; you can say what you want to say; he will listen to you, but his decision is ultimately his own. I think it’s important for us to recognise that,” he said.

Speaking on the theme of the summit, Idris said President Tinubu remains committed to transforming Nigeria through the Renewed Hope Agenda, describing it as a bold, people-first blueprint that is turning obstacles into opportunities.

“The Renewed Hope Agenda”, the minister said, “is about positively impacting the lives of the people of Nigeria through bold decisions designed to unleash the full scale of Nigerian potential in a way that has never been seen or done before.”

He recalled that President Tinubu inherited a nation at a crossroads and immediately moved with clarity and courage. “Among the first decisions the president made”, Idris explained, “were the removal of petrol and foreign exchange subsidies, which have been amongst the biggest impediments to Nigeria’s progress, costing us billions of dollars in losses and waste annually.”

The minister noted that “true leadership involves the ability to make decisions that might be tough in the short term but are guaranteed to deliver lasting returns.”

Idris said the outcomes of the president’s reforms are now evident across all sectors through large-scale infrastructure, social investment programmes, and the revamping of the nation’s mining and petroleum sectors, among others.