Nigeria's Tinubu defends policies as he launches re-election bid

Thousands of people attended a rally by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Saturday as he formally launched his campaign for a second term in office.

At the stadium in the northern city of Kaduna, he defended his economic policies promising Nigerians “a better tomorrow”.

Speaking at the rally, his All Progressives Congress (ACP) ⁠party emphasised that Tinubu’s painful economic reforms were beginning to pay off.

“The evidence is here, the evidence of projects you have completed all over the country, the evidence of ongoing projects, the evidence of your fairness, the evidence of your intention to take back our country,” said Minister of Works, David Umahi.

The 74-year-old Tinubu faces a contest that is likely to be dominated by the economy and security ahead of the 16 January elections.

Since taking office in 2023, he has scrapped fuel subsidies, devalued the naira, and introduced other reforms.

But while his economic reforms have improved public finances and investor sentiment, they have also fuelled the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Tinubu dismissed criticism of his economic policies, blaming hunger and poverty on opposition parties.

"Who created it? They did," Tinubu told the rally. "They created the hunger, they created the poverty. We are trying to eradicate it."

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

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

Tinubu’s main challengers in the January polls include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former state governor Peter Obi, who finished second ​and third respectively in 2023.