Nigeria Transforming With National Assembly’s Support: President Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu says his administration is making efforts to transform Nigeria's economy with the help of the National Assembly.

The National Assembly of Nigeria is led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

Speaking at a colloquium in Abuja to mark Akpabio's 61st birthday Thursday, the president acknowledged the challenges Nigeria was facing and said it would be jointly assessed by the executive and legislature to find proper solutions.

Tinubu said Akpabio and Abbas being on his side was enough for him to succeed, adding that "we will succeed."

Showering praise on the senate president, Tinubu said he was always committed to national development.

"The Chairman of the National Assembly has always shown commitment to national development, starting out as a commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, where he understudied Lagos; drew up a blueprint and implemented it as a two-term Executive Governor," the president added, according to the official State House website.

Akpabio served as a governor from 2007 to 2015. He later became a senator from 2015 to 2019 and also worked as minister of Niger Delta from 2019 to 2022. He currently serves as the 15th senate president of Nigeria.

"I believe in the person of Sen. Godswill Akpabio. He is truly in God's will for his life. I was governor in Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, and he was a commissioner," Tinubu said. "As a commissioner, he was extremely inquisitive about what was going on in Lagos. I didn't know then that he wanted to be a governor. As governor, he transformed Akwa Ibom tremendously."

Praising the visionary leadership of Tinubu, Akpabio said, "You are the first President who openly stepped out and said you believed that someone like me would make a difference as Senate President. It is not that the National Assembly is an appendage of the executive."

He assured the National Assembly would support the president in transforming Nigeria's economy.

"We did not come for a boxing bout. We came to transform Nigeria," he added.

Nigeria is undergoing an economic crisis as many businesses struggle due to high fuel costs following the removal of a subsidy in May. Many gas stations across Nigeria have been shut down due to increased fuel prices.