Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu hailed President Bola Tinubu’s fiscal overhauls for boosting federal allocations to states by 62 percent over the past two years, insisting no subnational leader can gripe about cash shortages amid a surge that has empowered grassroots development.
The endorsement came Tuesday at a commemorative lecture hosted by the Arewa Think Tank in Kaduna to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence anniversary, where Sanwo-Olu spotlighted the Renewed Hope Agenda as a catalyst for equitable growth and national cohesion.
“Ask any governor or local government chairman and they will tell you how much revenues have surged under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. There is now more money to do more that benefit the people,” Sanwo-Olu told the gathering of politicians, scholars and youth at Arewa House.
He detailed the windfall, noting allocations to states jumped 62 percent between 2023 and 2024, while local governments pocketed 47 percent more in the same span — fruits of deliberate policies to decentralise resources and fortify federalism.
Sanwo-Olu also praised a Value Added Tax (VAT) rejig slashing the federal slice from 15 to 10 percent, channeling 55 percent to states and 35 percent to councils. “With the new tax law, states now get 55 percent of VAT, while local governments receive 35 percent. This is another bold step to ensure governance is closer to the people,” he said.
The governor lauded Tinubu’s Supreme Court win on local government autonomy as a bulwark for accountability, and threw his weight behind state police to tame insecurity — quoting the president from a Katsina huddle: “I am reviewing all aspects of security. I have to create a State Police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity.”
Framing Tinubu as a “unifier and bridge-builder,” Sanwo-Olu evoked the late Sir Ahmadu Bello’s ethos of homegrown progress, urging Nigerians to nurture legacies for posterity. “Our duty is to build on those legacies — planting trees we may not sit under but ensuring a better Nigeria for future generations,” he urged, pledging Lagos’ alliance to the agenda’s lofty aims.
The address, under the banner “65 Years of Nigeria’s Independence: The Journey So Far with the Renewed Hope Agenda in View,” arrives as Tinubu’s reforms face scrutiny over inflation and equity, yet Sanwo-Olu’s cheerleading underscores party loyalty in Africa’s economic powerhouse, where fiscal flows often dictate regional fortunes.
