Bennett Oghifo
The Bola Ahmed Tinubu Ideological Group (BAT-IG) has urged President Bola Tinubu to institutionalise a Monthly Policy Focus and Quarterly Leadership Empowerment Summit involving governors, ministers, political appointees and local government chairmen to improve policy coordination, strengthen accountability and fast-track development across the country.
The group argued that while the federal government had substantially increased statutory allocations to states and local governments through recent fiscal reforms, the absence of a coordinated governance framework had limited the impact of the additional resources on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Convener of BAT-IG, Comrade Bamidele Atoyebi, said Nigeria’s governance challenge was no longer primarily about inadequate funding but the need for stronger policy alignment and a shared development agenda across the three tiers of government.
According to him, President Tinubu’s administration has embarked on bold economic reforms and sustained major infrastructure investments despite inheriting significant economic and security challenges.
He noted that since assuming office, the President had taken difficult decisions, including the removal of fuel subsidy and exchange rate reforms, while simultaneously confronting insecurity, power sector deficiencies and infrastructure gaps.
Atoyebi said the administration had also continued to invest heavily in strategic projects designed to stimulate economic growth and national integration.
He listed some of the projects as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Shagamu-Ijebu Ore-Benin and Ife-Ibadan highway corridors, the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway, ongoing rail and gas infrastructure projects, implementation of the new national minimum wage, improved welfare for security personnel, the student loan programme and efforts that have sustained uninterrupted academic calendars in public universities.
According to him, these initiatives demonstrate the administration’s commitment to repositioning the country’s economy and improving citizens’ welfare.
He however observed that many Nigerians were yet to feel the full benefits of the reforms because increased federal allocations to sub-national governments had not translated into coordinated and visible development in many communities.
“The challenge before government today is not merely providing resources but ensuring that governments at every level work towards common priorities with measurable outcomes,” he said.
To bridge the gap between policy formulation and implementation, Atoyebi proposed that the Presidency should designate a single national development priority every month for simultaneous execution by the federal, state and local governments.
He explained that such priorities could focus on rural road construction, revitalisation of primary healthcare centres, agricultural productivity, youth empowerment, market development or support for small and medium-scale enterprises.
According to him, concentrating efforts on clearly defined objectives would promote efficient deployment of public resources, encourage healthy competition among sub-national governments through peer review and produce measurable development outcomes within specified timelines.
The BAT-IG convener also called for the establishment of a Quarterly Leadership Empowerment Summit to bring together the President, governors, ministers, local government chairmen and other senior political office holders to review policy implementation, assess performance, share best practices and strengthen collaboration in delivering the administration’s programmes.
He said the proposed framework mirrored leadership models adopted by successful institutions around the world where regular engagement, performance evaluation and shared objectives had become critical tools for sustaining institutional efficiency and policy execution.
Atoyebi recalled that President Tinubu adopted a similar leadership approach during his tenure as governor of Lagos State through periodic engagements with commissioners and local government administrators, a strategy he said contributed significantly to effective policy implementation and institutional reforms.
He maintained that institutionalising such engagements at the national level would improve accountability, eliminate duplication of projects, deepen intergovernmental collaboration and ensure that increased public expenditure translates into tangible socio-economic benefits for citizens.
The group expressed confidence that a structured system of monthly policy direction backed by quarterly leadership reviews would strengthen governance, improve service delivery and accelerate implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
It added that sustained collaboration among the three tiers of government would enhance public confidence in governance and ensure that development initiatives are implemented more efficiently and equitably across the federation.