Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dan Ulasi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to address Nigerians directly in a national broadcast and explain which of his 2023 campaign promises have been fulfilled, which are still in progress, and why some have been delayed or abandoned. Speaking on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, during an appearance on Arise Television’s “Morning Show,” Ulasi insisted that Nigerians have a right to demand transparency from the government. “If the President is doing well, I want to see Mr President, and I like him personally. Let him make a broadcast outlining every promise he made before 2023 and which one he has started and completed,” Ulasi said. “If not, why did he not? This is all I’m saying.”
Ulasi argued that governing may be different from what outsiders perceive, but that citizens still have the right to demand explanations from elected leaders over unfulfilled promises. The seasoned politician, a former PDP chairman in Anambra State, lamented what he described as the growing public resignation to poor governance, coining a phrase that quickly went viral. “Nigerians are now genetically used to non‑performance,” Ulasi declared. “They are not interested. Most people now look for ways of making money outside government. Government does not produce, provide water, do not provide food, they don’t put anything. When they can’t even pay salaries of teachers, that becomes a problem. Our problems are multifarious, and we cannot abandon them to fate.”
He argued that many Nigerians no longer expect meaningful performance from the state and now focus on personal survival outside government structures. Ulasi, who has maintained a high public profile for his direct and often provocative political commentary, also used the platform to criticise the excessive monetisation of politics, which he said encourages corruption because elected officials seek to recover campaign expenses after assuming office. He cited poor infrastructure and the lack of basic amenities, such as running water in many local government areas, as evidence of leadership failure. “When you call billions of naira, it gives some of us gooseflesh how people spend that kind of money, and we expect them to offer honest service to the common people. That is why I said 774 local governments in this country, water is not running anywhere, and we seem shamelessly not worried about it,” he said.
This is not the first time the PDP chieftain has challenged the political establishment or spoken about the state’s failures. In a controversial interview with the Arise platform in February 2026, Ulasi declared that if he were given two billion naira, he would give President Tinubu “a run for his life” and that the President’s victory in 2027, even if he won, would be “a state.” During the same appearance, he also described Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promise to “continue from the good works of Muhammadu Buhari” as a “positive mistake” that helped him win the presidency by avoiding antagonising the North and securing Buhari’s support. “He did not want to antagonize the North, he needed the support of Buhari in the North and he got it,” Ulasi said.
The PDP chieftain’s latest remarks come amid internal turmoil within the opposition party, which has been plagued by a leadership crisis as the National Working Committee (NWC) continues to face fundamental contradictions that Ulasi himself has previously warned may undermine its prospects in the 2027 general election. In late April 2026, Ulasi openly declared that the PDP lacked the capacity to mount a credible challenge against President Tinubu as long as Nyesom Wike remained the party’s national leader, stating that if he was not “properly informed and explained to,” he would leave the party. He has also publicly welcomed a possible return of former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi to the PDP and has wagered his own credibility on an alliance between Obi and former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Political analysts have noted that Ulasi’s challenge to President Tinubu, while coming from an opposition voice, taps into a broader public sentiment of fatigue and distrust that has been building over the past three years. His claim that Nigerians have become “genetically used to non‑performance” has been widely shared on social media, with commentators pointing out that even if the President were to accept the challenge, it remains unclear whether citizens would believe a government‑issued scorecard. The Presidency had not issued an official response to Ulasi’s challenge as of Wednesday evening.
For now, the ball is in President Tinubu’s court. Ulasi has framed the demand not as political grandstanding but as a democratic right. “Maybe it’s not what you see outside government that you see inside government, but we have a right to want to know the promises you made to us. Why have you not fulfilled them?” he asked. The question, asked on national television, now waits for an answer from Aso Rock.
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