By Jelili Gbadamosi
Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, has defended the President’s reform agenda, accusing Catholic bishops of unfairly portraying the administration’s efforts as a failure despite inheriting what he described as a nation on the brink of economic collapse.
In a post on his X account, Dare said attempts to reduce Tinubu’s multi-sectoral reforms to a narrative of failure amounted to “an act of intellectual dishonesty” and “a scathingly uncharitable assault” on the President.
According to him, Tinubu assumed office in May 2023 amid severe economic and structural challenges that required bold and difficult reforms.
“The Bishops seek to reduce President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s monumental, multi-sectoral transformation agenda to a narrative of failure. This is not merely an act of intellectual dishonesty; it is a scathingly uncharitable assault on a patriotic leader who inherited a crumbling, bankrupt estate in May 2023 and possessed the rare political courage to rebuild it from the foundation up,” Dare wrote.
The presidential aide was reacting to remarks by John Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, who said President Tinubu disagreed with concerns raised by members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria over the country’s economy, insecurity and political climate.
The bishops had met with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on July 28, 2026, where they expressed concerns about the state of the nation.
Speaking later on Arise Television’s Prime Time, Onaiyekan said the President rejected the bishops’ assessment, insisting that his administration remained on the right track.
Dare, however, maintained that Tinubu’s performance should be assessed in the context of the economic realities he inherited, arguing that Nigeria was “hovering on the precipice of total economic collapse and structural paralysis” when the President assumed office in May 2023.
