The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticised the Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, over his feedback on President Bola Tinubu’s re-election prospects, urging him to give attention to addressing the financial hardship going through Nigerians.
The affiliation accused Oyedele of prioritising political projections about Tinubu’s possibilities within the 2027 presidential election over the pressing must sort out rising dwelling prices, excessive petrol costs, poverty and declining buying energy.
In an announcement issued on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, HURIWA stated the minister ought to think about his financial obligations reasonably than act as a political promoter for the President.
The affiliation faulted Oyedele’s suggestion that worldwide buyers and monetary markets had been already anticipating Tinubu’s second time period, insisting that Nigerians, reasonably than overseas buyers or international monetary establishments, would decide the nation’s political future.
HURIWA additionally questioned the appropriateness of a senior financial official utilizing a world financial gathering to debate the President’s re-election prospects when tens of millions of Nigerians had been struggling to afford primary requirements.
It challenged the Federal Government to clarify the way it supposed to cut back the price of meals, transportation, electrical energy and different important providers, create jobs and enhance employees’ buying energy.
The affiliation additional raised considerations concerning the nation’s borrowing, arguing that elevated income collections by authorities businesses ought to immediate questions on expenditure priorities, fiscal self-discipline and the continued reliance on loans.
Citing an article printed by The Guardian on May 25, 2026, during which financial commentator Dele Oye raised considerations about Nigeria’s public debt,
HURIWA referred to as for better transparency within the authorities’s borrowing choices.
It demanded explanations on the tasks financed by way of loans and the measurable advantages they’d delivered to Nigerians.
The affiliation warned that borrowing with out seen enhancements in residents’ welfare may impose an unfair monetary burden on future generations.
On petrol subsidy elimination, HURIWA rejected the argument that subsidies had been inherently incompatible with financial improvement, noting that governments in superior economies used public help programmes to guard susceptible households and cushion the results of financial shocks.
It argued that corruption, waste, insufficient oversight and poor implementation, reasonably than the precept of offering reduction to residents, had been the most important considerations surrounding authorities interventions.
HURIWA maintained that eradicating petrol subsidies with out satisfactory safety for low-income households had worsened financial hardship, including that the federal government couldn’t rely solely on market forces whereas ignoring the results for abnormal Nigerians.
The affiliation additionally cited feedback by Professor Pat Utomi, printed by TheCable on October 16, 2026, during which he criticised the federal government’s dealing with of petrol costs and wages
.
Utomi questioned the President’s response to the struggling of residents, asking: “But does the President care? How does he even sleep at night, knowing that millions of Nigerians are struggling to survive in a country blessed with abundant natural resources?”
HURIWA stated the query mirrored the frustration of residents who believed that Nigeria’s considerable pure assets ought to translate into improved dwelling situations.
It argued that financial reforms may lose public help when residents had been repeatedly requested to make sacrifices with out corresponding enhancements of their welfare.
The affiliation referred to as on the Federal Government to prioritise decreasing the price of dwelling, increasing employment alternatives, tackling corruption and making certain that public income translated into tangible advantages for residents.
It additionally urged the administration to undertake clear fiscal administration and contemplate focused reduction measures for susceptible Nigerians whereas stopping corruption and waste.
HURIWA insisted that the success of financial reforms must be measured by enhancements in residents’ dwelling situations reasonably than worldwide buyers’ evaluation of the President’s re-election prospects.
The affiliation maintained that the citizens would finally decide Nigeria’s political future based mostly on its evaluation of the federal government’s efficiency.
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