President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday in Abuja warned political opponents seeking to unseat him in 2027 that he would not yield ground without a fight, saying all is fair in a democratic contest.
Tinubu made the remarks when he received the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President said, “Those who would take it from me will try. They will try. All is fair in politics, and there is equal opportunity.
“I won’t offer them a red carpet. I won’t offer them the leash to tie me at home.
“No, we will wrestle each other to the finishing point. That’s the truth. That is fair in politics,” the President told the bishops.
He also dismissed concerns about the electoral process, defending the Independent National Electoral Commission against accusations of bias.
He argued, “INEC is neutral. It has never, ever intimidated anybody. If political opponents are crying wolf, then they are afraid of their own shadows and the uncertainty in the company they keep.”
At the meeting, which lasted barely an hour, Tinubu told the clerics that three years of difficult reforms were yielding visible dividends, pointing to the uninterrupted academic calendar as a measure ordinary Nigerians could feel.
He described the silence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities as an answer to his prayers and those of many Nigerians.
“None of your children in university today—and I would say they are all your children because you are Reverend Fathers—can say a four-year course is not four years.
