Former Governor of Anambra State and 2023 Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has taken a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing his administration of worsening Nigeria’s economic crisis while attempting to cover it up with misleading statistics.
In a statement posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, Obi recalled a campaign moment in November 2022, when then-All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Tinubu mocked him during a rally in Delta State. Tinubu had said he was “ashamed to call” Obi’s name and ridiculed his data-driven approach to governance, declaring:
“Na statistics we go chop? All I want is to put food on the table of Nigerians.”
Obi, however, said nearly two years into Tinubu’s four-year tenure, Nigeria now ranks among the world’s hungriest nations, with millions of citizens facing food insecurity and uncertain access to their next meal.
“President Tinubu is now overfeeding Nigerians with wrong statistics,” Obi said, accusing the current administration of manipulating data on unemployment, inflation, and most recently, GDP rebasing, in an effort to “put a positive spin on our deteriorating economic and household conditions.”
The former governor emphasized that governance is not rocket science or a gamble, but rather a responsibility that requires “sincerity of purpose, character, competence, capacity, and compassion.”
He warned against what he described as a “deliberate misrepresentation of facts” by the current administration and stressed that Nigerians are paying the price for leadership that lacks transparency and empathy.
Despite the growing economic and social challenges, Obi concluded his message with a note of optimism:
“A new Nigeria is possible.”
The statement has since sparked debate on social media, with many users expressing frustration over the rising cost of living and lack of accountability, while supporters of the administration defended its economic reforms as necessary for long-term recovery.
President Tinubu’s media team has yet to issue an official response to Obi’s remarks as of the time of this report.
Credit: @PeterObi via x.com.
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