Full Text Of President Tinubu’s Democracy Day Address On June 12, 2026

Fellow Nigerians

Today, we celebrate democracy and the enduring Nigerian spirit. For 27 unbroken years, since May 29, 1999, Nigerians have chosen their leaders through the ballot, witnessed peaceful transitions of power, and resolved disagreements in courtrooms and legislative chambers—not through violence. We have experienced the longest stretch of civilian rule in our history. Our democracy is not perfect, but it is ours, and we must continue to defend and strengthen it.

In the coming days, Ekiti and Osun States will hold elections. I urge INEC, security agencies, and all parties to ensure these polls are peaceful and credible. Democracy fails when citizens doubt the process. To our National Assembly, Judiciary, the Press, and Civil Society: you are the guardrails of our republic. Criticise me, disagree with me, but never stop believing in Nigeria.
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To our young people: Nigeria is your home and your future. Build here, code here, work here, and vote here. Every great nation was built by those who stayed to solve problems, not by those who abandoned ship.
To our armed forces, police, and intelligence services: Nigeria salutes your sacrifice. To our traditional rulers, faith leaders, and community heads: thank you for your support of peace and reconciliation. The government cannot do it alone.

Today, we honour the resilience of Nigerians who refused to surrender their faith in freedom, and the courage of those who stood firm against intimidation. We pay tribute to patriots who endured persecution, imprisonment, exile, and even death so that future generations could enjoy democracy. I salute labour leaders, journalists, activists, students, women, professionals, political leaders, and soldiers—both those who have passed and those still with us—for their patriotic contributions.
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Though this year’s mood is dampened by the abduction of our children in Oyo and Borno, we remain hopeful for their safe return. Democracy without security is not solid enough. That is why this administration declared a security emergency and approved the recruitment of more than 50,000 new police officers and thousands of military recruits. Our 2026 budget commits N5.41 trillion—our largest ever—to defence and security. Our administration is ever ready to do much more to secure our people.

We have moved from training with our allies, the United States, France and other European countries, to precision targeting. In Arege, Borno State, we degraded ISWAP’s command centre. Terror-related deaths are down by 81% since 2015. Over 13,000 terrorists have been neutralised in the past year. But we also keep the door of surrender open. Over 124,000 fighters and dependents have laid down their arms since 2023 through Operation Safe Corridor.

To bandits, kidnappers, and sponsors of terror: Surrender or face the full force of the Nigerian State. These windows of surrender will not remain open forever. No mercy will be shown to those who trade in the blood of Nigerians.

At a time like this, let us not assign blame or point fingers. Crime has no ethnicity. We must stand united and be assured that the enemies of our nation shall soon be history. We will triumph over terror and continue to build a more prosperous nation.
June 12 occupies a sacred place in our national memory. It represents more than an election; it is a defining chapter in our story. We remember Chief M.K.O. Abiola, who won a pan-Nigerian mandate transcending ethnicity and religion. We remember Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

We also remember Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Alfred Rewane, Pa Abraham Adesanya, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Commodore Dan Suleiman, Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, Frank Kokori, Arthur Nwankwo, Chima Ubani, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, and the many other heroes and heroines of democracy whose sacrifices helped secure the freedoms we enjoy today.

As beneficiaries of their struggle, we have a duty to strengthen and deepen the democratic institutions for which they fought. The greatest tribute we can pay is to build a Nigeria where freedom is protected, justice is upheld, opportunity is expanded, and government is accountable.

June 12, 1993, revealed the possibility of a true Nigerian nation. The heroes of June 12 secured political freedom. Our challenge is to secure economic freedom. Democracy must be felt in the quality of people’s lives—in opportunities for youth, in prosperous farmers, successful entrepreneurs, and the dignity of our workers.

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The reforms we are undertaking were not chosen for ease, but for necessity. Three years ago, our public finances were under severe strain, investment was discouraged, and economic uncertainty threatened our future. We chose to act, embracing reforms to advance Nigeria’s economic freedom.

Since 2023, our reforms have restored stability and credibility to economic management. Federation revenues have risen, providing states and local governments with more resources for infrastructure, education, healthcare, and security. Fiscal transparency has improved, leakage has been reduced, and public funds are better directed to national priorities. Investor confidence has returned, with investments in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, technology, mining, transportation, and the creative industries growing.

Domestic refining capacity has increased, strengthening energy security and reducing our reliance on imported petroleum products.

Tinubu

By 2023, when we came on board, the electricity sector was characterised by chronic generation shortfalls, an unreliable gas supply, and transmission infrastructure so fragile that it could not evacuate available power. Distribution companies were burdened by massive losses and a metering deficit of over four million. Worst of all, the value chain was drowning in legacy debt. The result was a sector that generated less than the 13,500 Megawatts installed capacity, a sector that transmitted less than it generated, distributed less than it transmitted and collected revenue far below what it needed to sustain itself.

To address the problems besetting the sector, I signed the Electricity Act, which grants states authority to generate, transmit, and distribute power. The Presidential Power Sector Task Force is working hard to reduce the metering deficit. It has also been authorised to raise N4 trillion bond to settle verified legacy debts. The Rural Electrification Agency, supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, has deployed off-grid and mini-grid power to underserved communities, universities, markets, and hospitals. Electricity is a democratic dividend we owe every Nigerian. We intend to deliver it.

Across the country, infrastructure projects are connecting producers to markets and creating opportunities for enterprise and employment. The National Agricultural Development Fund is deploying 10,000 tractors over five years. Over 1,000 SMEs have been certified for export. Non-oil exports grew by 21% last year.

Yet, many Nigerians still face economic hardship. We remain focused on reducing inflation, expanding food production, creating jobs, improving living standards, rebuilding confidence in our economy, and creating conditions for sustainable prosperity.

We are moving from uncertainty to stability. The next phase is about accelerating growth and ensuring the benefits are felt in every home, every community, and every region. We believe that Democracy must be felt in the pocket.

Recognising that democracy is undermined when people do not feel its impact, my administration has sought financial autonomy for our 774 local councils. A fundamental challenge to our nation’s advancement has been ineffective local government administration. The insecurity we are addressing is partly due to the collapse of grassroots governance. The Renewed Hope Agenda is about ensuring that all Nigerians benefit from governance.

Every generation has a defining responsibility. The generation of our founding fathers secured independence—the generation of June 12 secured democracy. Our generation must secure prosperity.

Let us move forward together—rejecting division, cynicism, and despair; embracing unity, hope, and confidence. Let us build a Nigeria united by a common purpose, strengthened by diversity, where justice is accessible, liberty is secure, and opportunity is abundant.

Among the architects of modern democratic Nigeria, we honour General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua for his vision of national partnership. In recognition of his contributions, the Federal Government has approved the revitalisation and renaming of the completed Institute of Petroleum Studies, Kaduna, as the General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua University of Geological Sciences and Engineering Technology.

I am also pleased to announce national awards to the following Nigerians, who suffered persecution, endured indignities, exile, incarceration, and, at times, solitary confinement, so that we have democracy today.

Barrister Ayoka Lawani
Tunde Fagbenle
Oladele Alake
Olatunji Bello
Louis Odion
Segun Babatope
Sam Omatseye
Sir Ademola Osinubi
Bola Bolawole
Lade Bonuola
Femi Kusa
Debo Adeniran
Chief Ayo Opadokun
Chief Ralph Obiora
Ose Osayande
Barrister Osa Director
Prof. Sylvester Odion-Akhaine
Dr Arthur Nwankwo (Posthumous)
Dr Osagie Obayuwana
Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin
Barrister Titus Mann
Joe Igbokwe
Richard Akinnola
Ben Charles-Obi (Posthumous)
George Mbah
Dr Niran Malaolu
Major-General Ishola Williams (rtd)
Femi Aborisade
Jenkins Alumona
Gbemiga Ogunleye
Muyiwa Adekeye
Babajide Kolade-Otitoju
Ike Okonta

We also recognise the soldier-democrats of the June 12 struggle:
Major General MA Garba
Brigadier General Lawal Jaafaru Isa
Col Umar Farouk Ahmed;
Col Sambo Dasuki;
Col Lawan Gwadabe;
Brigadier Jonathan Ndam Temlong
Col Musa Shehu;
Major General Chris Eze;
Major General Harris Dzarma;
Col Isa Jibrin;
Maj. General Joseph Oshanupin;
Col Olusegun Oloruntoba, Olugbede of Gbede Kingdom)
Lieutenant Colonel Happy Kefas Bulus
Col J Okai;
Col Emmanuel Ndubueze;
Lt Col Yakubu Muazu
Brigadier Yahaya Abubakar, the Current Etsu Nupe, who is already the holder of the CFR title.

The honours list will be released in the next few days.

Fellow Nigerians, 27 years ago, many doubted democracy would survive here because of our diversity. Today, our diversity sustains our democracy. The road ahead is steep. But June 12 reminds us: Nigerians do not break. We bend, we bleed, but we do not break.

Let us renew our covenant: That the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this land.

May God bless the heroes of our democracy. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. May God continue to bless us all.

Happy Democracy Day.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR
President and Commander-in-C hief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
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ADC Tells Tinubu: Own Your Failure, Stop Making Promises After Three Years In Office

-Party slams National Assembly for recess on democracy day.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day address as “another campaign speech masquerading as a presidential address,” arguing that after three years of the Tinubu administration and eleven years of APC rule, Nigerians deserve results rather than fresh promises.

The party said the President’s repeated assurances on economic recovery, security and job creation amounted to an admission that the APC had failed to deliver on the very promises that brought it to power in 2015. According to the ADC, a government that is still asking for patience after more than a decade in power cannot continue to blame the past for Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, cost-of-living crisis and unemployment challenges. The opposition party insisted that Democracy Day should have been an opportunity for the President to showcase how his government has benefited the people, not another campaign promises.

The ADC also criticised the National Assembly for proceeding on recess on such a historically momentous day that should have provided opportunity for the representatives of the people to evaluate our democratic journey.
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The full statement read:

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has carefully reviewed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Democracy Day address to the nation. While we join Nigerians in commemorating the sacrifices of the heroes of June 12 and celebrating twenty-seven years of uninterrupted democratic rule, we find it quite unfortunate that rather than use the occasion to demonstrate how this democracy under his watch has delivered real benefits to citizens, the President chose to speak like a candidate contesting for election rather than a leader who has been in the saddle for more than three years.

President Tinubu’s address was long on promises and short on answers. What Nigerians heard today was not the speech of a government entering its fourth year in office. It was the speech of a candidate seeking another mandate. Throughout the address, the President asked Nigerians to believe once again that prosperity is just around the corner, that economic reforms will soon bear fruit, that jobs are coming, that security is improving,

The question Nigerians should be asking is simple: after three years of President Tinubu and eleven years of APC rule, why are we still talking about promises?

The APC came to power in 2015 promising to tackle insecurity, revive the economy, create jobs, reduce poverty, strengthen institutions, and improve the quality of life of Nigerians. Eleven years later, these same issues continue to dominate the government’s speeches. The fact that the President is still making many of the same promises that brought the APC to power is itself an admission that those promises remain unfulfilled.

Most striking was the President’s attempt to present his administration as though it has only recently arrived in office. President Tinubu has been in power for three years. The APC has governed Nigeria for more than a decade. At this stage, Nigerians are not interested in projections. They are interested in outcomes. They are not looking for assurances. They are looking for evidence.

The President spoke extensively about economic reforms. Yet he failed to adequately address the reality that millions of Nigerians are experiencing one of the most severe cost-of-living crises in recent memory. Food prices remain painfully high.

Transportation costs have soared. Small businesses continue to struggle under rising operating expenses. Families across the country are making painful sacrifices simply to survive. Nigerians cannot be expected to celebrate economic theories while enduring economic hardship.

Democracy Day should have been an opportunity for the President to account for eleven years of APC stewardship. It should have been an opportunity to explain why, under him, the lives of Nigerians have been rendered worthless, why millions of Nigerians are struggling with the cost of living, why unemployment and underemployment remain widespread, and why public confidence in government continues to decline. Instead, Nigerians were presented with another catalogue of future intentions.

The ADC believes that a government that is still making promises after eleven years in power is effectively admitting that it has not delivered. A government that continues to ask for patience after three years in office is acknowledging that the promised results have not materialised.

Nigerians deserve more than speeches about what may happen tomorrow. They deserve answers about what has happened over the last eleven years.

President Tinubu’s Democracy Day address confirms what many Nigerians already know: this administration is increasingly focused on managing expectations rather than delivering outcomes. The government wants credit for promises and applause for intentions, while ordinary Nigerians continue to bear the consequences of its failures.

ADC, Tinubu

After eleven years of APC rule and three years of President Tinubu’s administration, Nigerians deserve answers. They deserve accountability. Above all, they deserve a government that delivers.
The ADC also condemns the decision of the National Assembly to proceed on holiday on a day that marks a great moment in our democratic journey.

The legislature is the bastion of democracy anywhere. A moment like this is an opportunity for the elected representatives of the people to celebrate democracy by showcasing their commitment to hold the government to account on behalf of the people they represent.

Unfortunately, when it matters most, the APC led National Assembly demonstrated, once again, a painful lack of historical awareness by shutting down the house of democracy on democracy day.

Signed:

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi
National Publicity Secretary
African Democratic Congress (ADC)
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Works Ministry Validates 2026 Performance Plan, Unveils Reviewed Strategic Roadmap To Drive Renewed Hope Agenda

The Federal Ministry of Works has concluded its Sectoral Retreat for the Review and Validation of the 2026 Performance Management System (PMS) Plan and the Unveiling of the Reviewed Strategic Plan (2024–2027), reaffirming its commitment to advancing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, through enhanced performance management, accountability, and service delivery.

Speaking at the 1-Day Retreat, the Honourable Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE, represented by the Honourable Minister of State, Bello Muhammad Goronyo, Esq., described the gathering as a strategic platform to evaluate the Ministry’s operational roadmap and align its Ministerial Performance Management System (MPMS) with national development priorities.
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He noted that the retreat was designed to strengthen institutional planning, accountability, digital transformation, and performance evaluation across the Ministry and its agencies, thereby enhancing the delivery of critical infrastructure projects nationwide.

According to the Minister, the Performance Management System (PMS) provides a structured framework for communication and coordination within the Federal Civil Service, ensuring that institutional objectives are aligned with the Ministry’s strategic goals, while promoting transparency, efficiency, and improved service delivery.

The Minister urged participants to engage actively in the deliberations and contribute practical ideas toward developing an effective operational framework that would accelerate the delivery of the Ministry’s mandates and support the Federal Government’s development agenda.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Adeladan, described the retreat as both timely and essential, stressing that the reviewed strategic plan would further strengthen the Ministry’s capacity to deliver sustainable, durable, and quality roads and bridges across the country.

He encouraged participants to take full advantage of the sessions by sharing innovative ideas and best practices that would guarantee institutional effectiveness and improved public service delivery.

“There is no doubt that this retreat will further strengthen performance, accountability, and operational efficiency within the Ministry,” he declared.

The retreat featured technical presentations, including an overview of the reviewed Federal Ministry of Works’ Strategic Plan (2024–2027) delivered by Dr. Francisca Odeka of FRANDEK International Consulting Ltd., as well as a paper on the benefits and challenges of implementing the MPMS in the Federal Civil Service, presented by Mr. Rikko Uwutti.

A major highlight of the retreat was the validation and formal signing of the weighted Ministry’s MPMS Template by the Permanent Secretary and Directors, signifying the Ministry’s collective commitment to achieving its 2026 performance targets.

The Director of Planning, Research and Statistics (DPRS), Mrs. Emily Osunde, announced that the cascading of the MPMS to the Employee Performance Management System (EPMS) for officers on other grade levels, alongside the preparation of implementation reports, would commence on Monday, 15 June, 2026.

Delivering the Vote of Thanks, the Director of Human Resource Management (DHRM), Mal. Ahmed Muhammad Tukur assured participants that all resolutions and recommendations arising from the retreat would receive the necessary attention and follow-through.

Renewed Hope Agenda

He expressed appreciation to the Honourable Ministers, the Permanent Secretary, Directors, Resource Persons, and all the other stakeholders for their invaluable contributions to the success of the programme.

The Retreat further underscored the Ministry’s determination to institutionalise a result-driven performance culture and strengthen its capacity to deliver impactful infrastructure projects in support of national development.

Mohammed A. Ahmed,
Director, Information and Public Relations.
12 June, 2026.
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