Nigeria: Tinubu launches reelection bid amid economic woes

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu on Saturday formally launched his campaign for a second term.

"We have prosperity, consistency, growth, recovery and opportunity," Tinubu said at a rally in the northwestern state of Kaduna.

"You grant me the privilege to promise you once again, there is that promise of a better tomorrow," he added.

Africa's most populous country will hold its next presidential election in January 2027. The campaign is expected to focus on Nigeria's economy and security challenges.

After taking power in 2023, Tinubu sparked anger by scrapping decades-long fuel subsidies — a move that has fueled Nigeria's inflation.

On Saturday, the incumbent president dismissed criticisms about his economic policies.

"I hear my opponents talking about hunger and poverty. Who created it? They did," Tinubu said at the crowded rally. "They created the hunger, they created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it."

Earlier this month, the 74-year-old acknowledged Nigeria's economic issues. In his Independence Day address, he argued that his administration's reform "did not create the weaknesses in our economy," but actually "confronted them."

Tinubu's government announced potential price caps on fuel soon after.

Apart from grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, Nigeria continues to struggle with armed bandits and kidnappers.

On Friday, gunmen killed at least 20 people in an attack on a village in the country's northeast.

The nation has also been fighting a long-running jihadist insurgency, sparked by Boko Haram's 2009 uprising.

Tinubu's main challengers are expected to be former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former state governor Peter Obi.

In the 2023 presidential election,Tinubu only managed to secure less than 36.6% of the valid votes cast, with Abubakar at 29% and Obi at 25.4%.