Masari: ‘In Nearly 40 Years, I’ve Never Seen a Nigerian President With Better Plans Than Tinubu’

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and ex-Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has declared that his nearly four decades of involvement in Nigerian politics have not exposed him to a president with better plans for the country than President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Masari made the assertion while addressing a group of women at a recent public function reportedly held in Kaduna. His remarks were contained in a video published on Tuesday by HM Arewa, a Hausa-language media platform.

The former governor said his assessment was informed by his long experience in Nigeria’s political system and his opportunity to observe successive administrations. He stated that, based on that experience, Tinubu’s plans for Nigeria stood out among those of the presidents he had witnessed.

“Even if I were asked to swear, on my age and my political involvement for almost 40 years, I can confidently say I have never seen a president with better plans to make Nigeria great than Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I have simply never seen anyone like him,” Masari said.

Masari also pushed back against claims that the Tinubu administration had achieved little since taking office. He argued that similar criticisms had been directed at previous administrations and suggested that the pattern was being repeated under the current government.

He specifically referenced former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying his administration faced allegations of sectionalism and tribalism after its first four years in office. Masari also cited the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying it similarly became the target of comparable criticisms.

According to Masari, some of those who currently insist that Tinubu has done nothing are people who, in his view, have historically been unwilling to acknowledge progress under governments they oppose. He said the criticisms against Tinubu should therefore be considered against the background of Nigeria’s political history.

The former Katsina governor also turned his attention to the role of ethnicity and religion in political discourse. He questioned the tendency to associate particular religions exclusively with specific ethnic groups, asking whether religion could properly be regarded as belonging only to the Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo.

With political activities intensifying ahead of the 2027 general election, Masari urged women preachers to use their influence within their families and communities to discourage what he described as divisive rhetoric. He told the women that their ability to influence their husbands and children could be used to promote a less divisive political atmosphere.

Masari’s comments come against the backdrop of his own involvement in Tinubu’s political campaign. In August 2026, he was appointed Deputy Director-General, Parliamentary Mobilisation, of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council for Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.

Masari served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007 and later governed Katsina State from 2015 to 2023. His latest comments therefore place his personal assessment of Tinubu within a political career spanning several administrations and different periods of Nigeria’s democratic history.