Yahaya Bello Hails President, Applauds Subsidy Removal and Key Reforms

Former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with high religious praise, emphatically describing him as the “angel” sent by God to mend the nation’s fortunes.

Bello made the declaration on Saturday during a significant All Progressives Congress (APC) endorsement rally in Lokoja. The rally was organised by APC stakeholders in Kogi State to formally back President Tinubu and the incumbent Kogi Governor, Usman Ododo, for second terms in office come 2027.

“We will not wait for God to send an angel with wings to fly into Nigeria to fix it,” Bello stated during his speech, clarifying his position: “Did I tell you who the angel is? The angel is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

The former governor vigorously defended the Tinubu administration’s key economic decisions, which have drawn both praise and criticism. He specifically highlighted bold policy shifts that he claimed were long overdue, such as the removal of the petroleum subsidy and the commencement of the Student Loan Scheme. He maintained that these were steps towards the “new Nigeria” that citizens had yearned for, where the exchange rate would be floated and foreign investment would flow in.

While acknowledging the current economic pains, Bello cautioned the public to be realistic, stressing that decades of “systemic decay” meant that the process of national recovery and transformation would inherently be gradual. His powerful rhetoric serves as a major endorsement for Tinubu’s reforms from a prominent political figure in the APC.