The President made the criticism on Thursday when he received a delegation of traditional rulers from Oyo State, led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, at the State House in Abuja.
Speaking frankly to the royal fathers, Mr. Tinubu said governors are deceiving Nigerians with projects that do not address the real needs of the people, while millions continue to live in abject poverty.
“Nigeria governors are not doing well at all,” the President said. “They are taking four to five times their money. Nobody is borrowing money to pay salaries now. Pensioners are receiving their pay, and they should do more instead of building flyovers where there is no numeric traffic.”
The President linked the increased revenue to the removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023, which has caused monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, to rise sharply.
According to him, many governors today have far more resources than their predecessors, yet the impact on ordinary citizens remains minimal.
“You need to help us communicate to these governors,” Tinubu told the traditional rulers. “Today, the cost of operation is high. But the money that I’m pushing to the states, if you had it during your own time or during my time, it would have been different.”
Oba Ladoja, who governed Oyo State between 2003 and 2007, was in office at the same time Tinubu served his second term as Lagos State governor.
The President’s comments echo growing public frustration over the spending priorities of many state governments.
Observers and civil groups have repeatedly said governors are embarking on white-elephant projects while civil servants struggle to afford two square meals a day and communities lack basic services.
“What kind of heartless policy is this?” a commentator noted recently. “Governors are building flyovers while people are hungry, hospitals have no drugs, and schools have no teachers.”
Beyond governance, President Tinubu also briefed the Oyo monarchs on the administration’s security strategy and recent gains against banditry and terrorism.
He disclosed that the Nigerian Army has been expanded from eight to 12 divisions to reduce response time across the country. He added that forest guards are also being strengthened to pursue criminal elements hiding in forests, shifting their focus beyond wildlife protection.
On kidnapping, the President reiterated his administration’s hard stance.
“We refused to pay ransom,” he said. “These criminals wanted us to release members of their gangs already in detention. That was one of their conditions, aside from the money they were demanding. We said no deal.”
He cited the recent rescue of kidnapped victims in Oyo State as evidence that the new security approach is yielding results.
Tinubu also linked Nigeria’s worsening insecurity to instability in the Sahel region. He mentioned Mali, Burkina Faso, and the Niger Republic as sources of additional pressure on Nigeria’s borders and security architecture.
The President urged traditional rulers to take his message directly to governors in their states, saying community leaders have a role to play in demanding accountability.
Since FAAC allocations jumped after subsidy removal, public scrutiny of state spending has intensified. Citizens and labor groups have continued to call for transparency, arguing that more money should go into healthcare, education, agriculture, and road networks that directly impact livelihoods.
With the President now publicly calling out governors, the pressure is likely to mount on state governments to justify how they are spending their increased allocations ahead of the 2027 elections.
