Summary: NRS boss Zacch Adedeji claims President Tinubu walks to his office and eats just once a day, dismissing accusations of lavish spending. Nigerians, however, have plenty to say about that.
If you thought your Monday morning was going to be drama-free, the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, had other plans. The tax boss has set Nigerian social media ablaze after making some eyebrow-raising claims about President Bola Tinubu’s lifestyle — and as you can imagine, the internet has not been quiet about it.
What Exactly Did Adedeji Say?
According to Adedeji, President Tinubu is far from the extravagant leader his critics paint him to be. In fact, the NRS chairman wants Nigerians to know that their president:
– Walks to his office from his residential quarters within the Aso Rock Villa
– Eats only once a day, keeping a modest and disciplined lifestyle
– Lives with far more restraint than the public perception suggests
Adedeji made these claims while pushing back against widespread criticism that the Tinubu administration has been living large at the expense of ordinary Nigerians who are currently grinding through one of the country’s most punishing economic seasons.
Why This Has Nigerians Talking
Now, here is where it gets interesting. At a time when the average Nigerian is doing the most — waking up before the sun, hustling through gridlocked traffic, eating once a day not by choice but by necessity — the idea that eating one meal daily is being presented as a virtue for a sitting president has struck many as deeply tone-deaf.
Social media users were quick to point out the irony. For millions of Nigerians, skipping meals is not a lifestyle choice or a disciplined habit — it is the painful reality of surviving under economic hardship, fuel subsidy removal, and a naira that has seen better days.
The reactions ranged from sharp humour to outright frustration:
> “He eats once a day by choice. We eat once a day by circumstance. Very different things.”
> “So the man treks from one building to another inside Aso Rock and we’re supposed to clap?”
It is the kind of comparison that does not land well when millions of Nigerians are trekking not across a presidential villa, but across kilometres of road because they cannot afford transport fare.
The Bigger Picture
Nigeria is currently navigating one of its most difficult economic periods in recent memory. The removal of the fuel subsidy, the unification of the foreign exchange market, and the resulting surge in inflation have combined to squeeze household budgets to their limits. Food prices have gone through the roof, unemployment remains stubbornly high, and many Nigerians are making daily sacrifices just to keep their families afloat.
In this context, defending the presidency by pointing to personal frugality — however genuine — feels like a misread of the room. Nigerians are not necessarily asking whether the president eats jollof rice or continental cuisine. The questions on many people’s lips are weightier: When will the economy turn around? When will things get better? When will our own sacrifices begin to yield results?
Fair Assessment or PR Misstep?
To be fair, Adedeji may have been trying to humanise the president and counter what he sees as unfair narratives. Political communication is a tricky business, and defending a sitting president during tough times is never easy.
But there is a lesson here that political handlers across Nigeria would do well to learn — messaging matters enormously. In a country where the gap between the governed and the governing often feels like a canyon, comparisons that inadvertently highlight that gap can do more harm than good.
Telling a hungry man that the chef also skips lunch does not fill his stomach.
What do you think? Was Adedeji right to defend the president this way, or was this a classic case of missing the mark? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
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