President Bola Tinubu on Thursday said no amount of pressure or intimidation would distract him from his job.

Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to a reform agenda he said is already yielding results for Nigerians.

Speaking at the State House, Abuja, during a meeting with the leadership and coordinators of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, a political mobilisation network inaugurated weeks earlier to carry the administration’s message to the grassroots, the President challenged critics and political opponents, declaring that he is the legitimate successor to former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said, “They want to scare me off? It’s a lie. I’ve been through this path before, and if I have to come back over and over again, I’ll do the same thing.

“There is no better place than your own country, and no one can build it except you.

“During the primaries that got me here, it was tough. During the election, it was tough. Now that I’m here, all I can promise is that I won’t give up.”

He told the ambassadors, drawn from across the country’s geopolitical zones, that he had made them a promise he intended to keep.

“Whatever you say I do, but one thing that you need from me is a promise that I won’t run away from this fight. With you, the deal is done,” he stated.

The President’s remarks come against the backdrop of sustained political pressure from opposition figures and a segment of civil society who have questioned the pace and equity of his administration’s reforms, with some calling for his resignation over economic hardship.

On April 14, the National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, a former ally, criticised the Tinubu administration, describing its Renewed Hope Agenda as a “classic scam.”

Speaking at the ADC National Convention in Abuja on Tuesday, the former Interior Minister called on the President to resign, citing worsening insecurity and economic hardship nationwide.

Tinubu, however, framed his reforms as necessary corrections inherited not from an adversary but from a partner, former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said, “I didn’t have to look back, because the truth is, I took over from myself. The late Buhari is me. He was a partner.

“If I took over from him, is that not from myself? So if something is wrong, fine—live with it, correct it, and move on.”

He also urged the ambassadors and Nigerians to respect the courts and the constitutional order.

“We cannot submit to disobedience of a lawful order of a court. We must embrace the judiciary, whether it favours us or not.

“We submit to this principle of democracy, separation of powers, and the understanding of its dynamics, as well as the nationhood that Nigeria represents. We must build one country,” Tinubu said.

He described the Renewed Hope mission as a generational obligation, saying, “This is an opportunity of a lifetime, to break the shackles of poverty and ignorance, to put freedom in the hearts of our people, and to ensure democracy survives, not the noise-making, not the rascality of a street convention.”

The Renewed Hope Ambassadors were formally inaugurated at a summit in Abuja on February 24.

At the summit, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State said the initiative was designed to mobilise support networks at the state and local government levels for the Tinubu administration’s policy agenda and the APC ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle.

Thursday’s meeting was a follow-up session bringing the leadership and zonal coordinators together for discussions with the President.

Tinubu told the gathering he had listened carefully to their reports and remained energised.

According to him, “I’m inspired, I’m ready. I’m grateful to all of you.”

Present at the meeting were Vice President Kashim Shettima, Kaduna State Governor Senator Uba Sani, Governor Hope Uzodinma, APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, and APC National Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru, among others.