General Overseer of Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has taken a swipe at President Bola Tinubu over the worsening insecurity and economic hardship in Nigeria.

In a viral video shared online, Oyedepo alleged that the Tinubu administration was failing to take decisive action to address the challenges bedeviling the Nigerian people.

The cleric expressed anger over the persistent attacks and killings across the country, issuing a note of warning that Nigerians who have endured the situation for a long time may no longer remain silent.

The General Overseer, however, condemned those behind the attacks and killing of unarmed Nigerians, stating that victims should not be expected to show sympathy towards the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

“The president needs to act now and stop pretending. You can’t slaughter members of my family and expect me to pray for you. I will pray against you and your household.

“The government is pretending like they don’t know what to do. I have been quiet for a long time, but the bubble is about to burst,” he fumed.

He equally accused the government of appearing unaware of the severity of the security crisis, saying leaders had failed to demonstrate the urgency required to protect citizens and restore confidence.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has argued that President Bola Tinubu is not qualified to contest the 2027 presidential election, citing his alleged failure to present his primary and secondary school certificates to the public.

Tinubu, in the form he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for next year’s election, reportedly left blank the sections designated for his primary and secondary school education, raising concerns among some Nigerians, particularly members of the opposition.

A lawyer and ADC chieftain, Kalu Kalu, alleged that the President committed forgery by previously presenting certificates he did not possess, an act he claimed automatically disqualifies him from contesting for the nation’s highest office. He cited Section 137(1)(j) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that a person is not qualified to run for the office of President if they have presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He alleged that the primary and secondary schools Tinubu claimed to have attended either did not exist at the time or were falsely represented. Kalu further claimed that although Tinubu presented those certificates during the 2023 election, the due diligence carried out by the ADC’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the last general election, had prompted the President to remain silent about his primary and secondary school education in his latest submission to INEC.

Kalu also questioned the authenticity of President Tinubu’s Chicago State University certificate, saying it had been subjected to scrutiny in a United States court.

The ADC stalwart said: “Atiku Abubakar went for the discovery of the academic records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the US court directed Chicago State University to release those academic records of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And when they were released, it was found that Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a very dangerous false entry that he attended Government College, Lagos and graduated in 1970, whereas Government College, Lagos, was not even in existence in 1970; it was established in 1974. That’s one.

Speaking on whether the matter could be relitigated, Kalu said: “The challenge is that the Supreme Court’s position on pre-election matters is that only an aspirant can challenge another aspirant in the race. Now Tinubu has emerged, and nobody from the APC is challenging him. But the issue now is Section 29 of the Electoral Act. Is the Electoral Act superior to the Constitution? The answer is no. If the Constitution says, under Section 137(1)(j), that you are not qualified to contest an election if you have presented a forged certificate to INEC.

Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed bewilderment over President Bola Tinubu’s latest claim that “prosperity is on the horizon” and that “the quality of life is improving,” asking whether the President was referring to another country or the Nigeria that millions of citizens endure every day.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the President’s remarks reveal a troubling disconnect between those who govern and the people they were elected to serve.

“Mr. President says prosperity is on the horizon. Nigerians are asking: whose horizon? Certainly not that of the market woman whose capital has been wiped out by inflation. Not that of the civil servant whose salary now expires before the month begins. Not that of the manufacturer struggling under crushing energy costs. Not that of the unemployed graduate who sees no future. Certainly not that of farming communities forced off their ancestral lands by terrorists and bandits, families mourning loved ones slaughtered in senseless attacks, or countless Nigerians who now live in daily fear of kidnappers who have turned human lives into commodities. And certainly not that of millions of households that have quietly reduced the number of meals they eat each day simply to survive.”

Atiku said that while no serious person disputes that President Tinubu inherited challenges, no President is elected to inherit excuses.

“The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it. Every administration inherits problems. Great leaders are remembered for solving them, not for endlessly rehearsing them.”

The former Vice President noted that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration can no longer govern by blaming its predecessors.

“The Nigerian people are not interested in who created the problem. They want to know who will solve it. A government that still blames its predecessors after years in office is, by its own conduct, admitting that it has run out of ideas. President Tinubu may find comfort in blaming those before him, but history will remember his administration as the one under which Nigerians endured unprecedented hardship, institutionalised fiscal recklessness, and one of the greatest appropriation scandals in the annals of our nation. The suffering of Nigerians today is driven not by the past, but by an administration that has elevated opacity over transparency, rewarded a privileged circle of cronies, and condemned millions to deepening economic pain, insecurity, and despair.

“It is even more astonishing that a President who constantly invokes China now blames Nigeria’s population for the country’s difficulties. China did not become an economic superpower by complaining about the size of its population. It became prosperous because visionary leadership transformed that population into its greatest economic asset through sustained investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, education, technology, and export-led industrialisation. Great leaders convert challenges into opportunities. They do not convert opportunities into excuses.

“That is precisely what an Atiku Abubakar administration will do. We will invest aggressively in manufacturing, modern infrastructure, quality education, skills acquisition, agriculture, and export-driven industries to unlock the enormous productive capacity of our people. Nigeria’s youthful population is not a burden; it is our greatest strategic advantage. Our people are not the problem. President Tinubu’s failed leadership is.”

He said it was particularly insensitive for the President to suggest that because hunger existed before his birth, Nigerians should somehow accept the unprecedented hardship confronting them today.

“Nobody ‘elected’ Tinubu to eliminate the hunger of 1940. Nigerians ‘elected’ him to confront the hunger of today. The fact that previous generations endured hardship is not a licence to deepen the suffering of the present generation.”

Atiku stressed that hope is not manufactured through speeches but earned through purposeful leadership and policies that improve lives.

“Hope cannot be preached to a hungry stomach. It cannot be legislated into existence. It cannot substitute for affordable food, stable electricity, productive jobs, quality education, accessible healthcare, or security for families to sleep with both eyes closed. Government inspires hope through performance, not rhetoric.”

He urged President Tinubu to step outside the comfort of official briefings and carefully choreographed ceremonies and reconnect with the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.

“If the President truly believes that the quality of life is improving, then one must respectfully remind him that the Nigeria he is talking about exists only in his head. It is certainly not the Nigeria where families are choosing between food and medicine, where communities are fleeing armed violence, where kidnappers dictate the rhythm of daily life, and where hope is becoming more expensive than bread.”