The Presidency on Wednesday rejected the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s Independence Day claims that President Bola Tinubu’s policies had pushed 15 million Nigerians into acute poverty and squandered borrowings on waste.
It described his assertions as “not based on facts.”
In an interview with The Punch, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Obi’s remarks ignored the substance of the President’s October 1 address and the legacy challenges inherited by the All Progressives Congress-led government.
“Obi’s opinion is not based on facts… He is just playing to the gallery,” Onanuga stated.
Obi had released his Independence Day message titled ‘Nigeria @65: APC pushed 15m Nigerians into poverty, squandered loans on waste’.
He accused the ruling party of deepening hardship through “brutal revenue-driven policies” and neglect of welfare, while mismanaging borrowing and scaring away investment.
He said, “In 1999, we overcame military dictatorship and restored democracy, beginning a renewed journey towards prosperity, freedom, and justice. That journey helped us to build Africa’s largest economy and strengthen our democratic process.
“But over the last decade, under the APC’s incompetent, divisive, and corrupt leadership, Nigeria has been greatly diminished.”
On debt and growth, Obi contrasted earlier periods with current metrics under Tinubu.
Obi explained, “By the end of 2007, our total debt was about N2.5tn, about 10 per cent of our GDP. At the time, President Obasanjo’s government secured debt relief of over $30bn.
“In 2014, Nigeria had become the largest economy in Africa and was primed to achieve middle-income status. In 2015, for the first time, a ruling party was defeated in a presidential election, marking another milestone for our democracy.
“Today, the picture is bleak. Our total debt stands at about N175tn, nearly 50 per cent of our GDP, without any improvement in the productive sectors. Nigeria has fallen to the fourth largest economy in Africa, behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria. Our democracy is now described as undemocratic.”
The former Anambra State governor tied policy outcomes to rising deprivation saying, “In just one year of this administration, 15 million Nigerians were pushed into acute poverty.
“Today, more than 150 million Nigerians lack access to basic health, education, water, or sanitation. This number grows daily under the APC government that pursues brutal revenue-driven policies while neglecting the welfare of its people.
“Nigeria now ranks among the lowest in the world in human development indicators.”
Obi also accused the government of waste and misplaced priorities stating, “This government taxes struggling citizens and small businesses while indulging in extravagance.
“Billions are spent on new presidential jets, yachts, and luxury cars, costing more than the entire 2024 budget for primary healthcare.”
He argued that the Vice Presidential residence was renovated at a cost of N21bn, more than the combined capital budget of six major federal university teaching hospitals, and even the entire university research budget.
“Over N10bn was allocated for building car parks, canteens, storage, and assembly facilities. At the same time, millions of Nigerians face food insecurity.
“UNICEF and the World Food Programme project that 33 million Nigerians will face acute hunger in 2025,” he added.
On insecurity and investment, Obi said the government borrows recklessly, not for investment in productive infrastructure but for wasteful consumption.
“Insecurity has further crippled our economy. Nigerians now live in fear of travelling on the road. Kidnapping has become rampant, with billions paid as ransom.
“Incompetence, insecurity, and mismanagement have turned our country into one of the most terrorised and unsafe nations in the world.
“Cronyism, corruption, and disregard for the rule of law have scared away investors, while other African countries have overtaken us as preferred destinations for foreign investment,” he complained:
Nonetheless, he argued that Nigeria can rebound with “competent, compassionate, and committed” leadership focused on human capital and rule of law.
“What we need is competent, compassionate, and committed leadership. Our priority must be prudent economic management, investment in human capital, rule of law, and infrastructure development.
“We must mobilise our resources to drastically reduce poverty and achieve rapid, sustained growth.
We should learn from nations like China, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.
“Nigeria too can rebound, but only if we exit the path of incompetence and fiscal irresponsibility,” Obi said.
He called for resolve stating, “We must end the system where leaders feast while the people starve; where politics enriches a few and impoverishes many.
“Against all odds, we will return Nigeria to a path of prosperity and justice. We will not relent. We will not be discouraged. The mission is clear: Nigeria will rise again.”
He urged citizens to reject corruption and bigotry, saying: “We must embrace a new Nigeria where leadership is defined by competence, compassion, and commitment.
“That’s why, despite today’s challenges, the future remains bright. Happy Independence Day to all Nigerians.”
However, the Presidency faulted his claims on Nigeria’s economic performance.
“Whatever Obi said today is just cheap talk, playing as usual to the gallery, trying to appeal to his mob, who most of the time are not thinking, who just latch onto anything the man says,” Onanuga stated.
He argued that Obi’s critique did not engage with the President’s Independence broadcast.
He said “Obi’s opinion is not based on facts. What the President said today is a state of the nation address; what he met on the ground, and what he has done to ameliorate the Nigerian economic situation.
So, let them go and fault that.”
Onanuga attributed the current economic problems to the PDP era, stating, “The problem of our country began in the PDP years. It’s not a problem that began today. It’s from the years. PDP ruined Nigeria.”
Questioning Obi’s record in office, Onanuga challenged the former Anambra governor’s stewardship.
“And then what you need to ask Mr. Obi is that, when he was governor of an Anambra State, what did he do to improve the lot of the people in Anambra?
“In fact, according to statistics, there was more poverty in Anambra under Peter Obi’s years than the previous administration of Mbadinuju and Ngige,” said Onanuga.
He argued that Obi’s records disqualify him from vying for the Presidency on the basis of performance.
“So, he can’t be talking to us about the problem of poverty when he was a poor administrator and he didn’t do well for his state.
“Now a man without the pedigree wants to come to the centre to perform magic when he has nothing to show from when he was he was given the opportunity to govern a state.
“Mr Obi should not be talking to the gallery as if people have forgotten, as if we don’t have memories, as if we are suffering from amnesia,” the presidential spokesman said.
Onanuga also cited criticism of the state capital during Obi’s tenure and urged Nigerians to consider comments by Obi’s successors.
He explained, “When he (Obi) left Anambra and Obiano took over, one story in The Guardian newspaper said Obi left Awka, the capital, like a village.
“Meaning, he didn’t improve infrastructure to make Awka a befitting capital for Anambra State.
So, that is the man who is now talking today.
“He is just talking to the gallery. He can only fool the young ones who perhaps do not understand history, who perhaps do not know what he did while he was Governor of Anambra.”
He added, “But the record is there for people to see. Check what his successors, Obiano and Soludo said about him?
“He’s not the man to tell us, ‘Oh, APC has increased poverty.’ What did he do when he had the chance?”
Onanuga further stressed that poverty reduction is a shared responsibility and defended the APC’s decade-long record and Tinubu’s social programmes.
“But this problem of poverty we are talking about is not a problem of the centre. It’s a problem for the sub-national entities as well; the states, the local councils.
“They should not heap all the blame on the central government. The states have a role to play. That’s what the President said today, calling on the all the sub-national entities to join in nation building.
“So that’s the issue, we should stop quoting statistics as if Mr President created all the problems. The problems were there before he got there, and what is clear is that this APC government, in the last 10 years, has done a lot to improve things,” he explained.
Citing cash transfers and other schemes, he said the ruling party had prioritised the vulnerable.
“For instance, it was the APC that started this conditional loan transfer to the vulnerable. Is that not a move to take care of the vulnerable?
“For 16 years, the PDP never thought about that. What APC started then, President Tinubu has continued.
“As at the last count, N330bn has been given to the vulnerable in our society, and there are all kinds of other incentives that the government has been has been doing,” he stated.
President Tinubu has in his Independence broadcast earlier on Wednesday, declared “the worst is over” and said reforms are “turning the corner.”
The President cited faster growth, easing inflation, improved reserves, social cash transfers and infrastructure projects.
The Punch
