Tunji Bello, the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), recently discussed the performance of President Bola Tinubu in comparison to his tenure as the Governor of Lagos State.
Bello, who has been a longstanding ally of President Tinubu since their days as activists in the pro-democracy group, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), emphasized the challenges faced by the President at the federal level, citing substantial issues that differ from those encountered at the state level. Bello, who previously served during Tinubu’s second term as the Governor of Lagos State from 2003 to 2007, brought attention to the complexities inherent in the federal administration that have impacted the replication of Tinubu’s acclaimed performance in Lagos.
These insights were shared during Bello's appearance as a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political program broadcasted on Channels Television.
Bello said, “What I know is that he (Tinubu) is somebody who fights for the interest of Nigerians at any point in time, just like he did when he was in Lagos.
“Considering what he contributed to the development of Lagos, the expectation is that he will do the same thing in Nigeria. But Nigeria is a different thing entirely. So, we should not expect that what he did in Lagos, he should come and do the same thing.
“There is Federal Character in Nigeria when you get to the Centre. There is nothing like Federal Character in Lagos. That itself is one of the things he has to surmount. He has to consider the interests of different areas. He cannot just say that what works here (Lagos) must work there (at the center). That should be properly studied.
“And then, he came in and met gargantuan problems; problems of infrastructure, petrol, insecurity, labor issues here and there, and different things.
“If you ask me, I will say he has done very well (but) we need to look at some areas and see how that we can recalibrate.”
The FCCPC chair said Tinubu has so far shown that he is a listening president who is ready to meet the needs of the people.”
Bello assured Nigerians that they are going to see improvements in the economy and other areas in the next two to three years.
“We are going to see a lot more improvements as we move on. He (Tinubu) just spent one year, and only God can perform excellently well. One year, I think people needs to give him more time. In the next two, three years, I believe that we will see a lot of changes as we move on,” he said.
Bello also said his agency has started engaging traders nationwide, starting with Abuja. He said some traders cited bad roads, insecurity, inflation for raising prices. He, however, said those excuses don’t warrant arbitrary and exploitative prices.
The FCCPC boss said though his agency is not against anybody making a profit, profiteering is unethical and won’t be tolerated.
Bello said culprits can be sanctioned up to billions of naira, their markets, stalls shut, amongst other penalties.
The FCCPC boss urged Nigerians to share information on exploitative acts by traders for the agency to act.
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