𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗺 – 𝗢𝗴𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝘂𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗯𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮.

Former Minister of Interior and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, has called on President Bola Tinubu to resign over worsening insecurity and economic hardship in Nigeria.

The former Osun State Governor made the call while delivering a speech at the ongoing ADC National Convention in Abuja, where he also described President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda as a scam.

Aregbesola stated, “People who deliberately split the Peoples Democratic Party are today being falsely roped as political strategists..Since when has criminality become a strategy? The ADC does not, and we never owe its existence to any individual or group, including an electoral body masquerading as a neutral umpire with its leadership in the attire of political partisanship.

“The ADC derives its existence from the aspirations and the values of the Nigerian people, who are tired of the deceit and colossal mismanagement to which this country is being subjugated. We owe our existence to the Nigerian Constitution. We declare that freedom of association, including that to form or belong to any political party, is guaranteed and is a fundamental right.

“We are here because the ADC is on a rescue mission to reclaim the country from the strangulating grasp of the ruling party. The APC is a party which has foisted on the country an electoral law that stinks of forgery, and making false claims in electoral documents is no longer valid; in other words, the ruling party is criminalising criminality.

“We proclaim our existence because our country is worth the necessary sacrifices. We cannot allow khaki-socracy in Nigeria. The government claims that the recent reduction in exchange rates demonstrates its mastery of the economy. This is false.

In truth, the exchange rate, which was about 700 naira to the dollar at the open market, not the official rate, when this government assumed office in 2023, is now about N1,400. This amounts to a 1,400 per cent devaluation in an import-dependent economy. This is terribly devastating. The cost of a litre of fuel before this administration was between 185 and 238 naira. Depending on the part of the country you are in, now it is about 1,400 per litre and still rising.”

Aregbesola expressed concern that transportation costs have risen so sharply that it is now impractical for some workers to commute to work.