Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has sharply criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s handling of Nigeria’s economy, accusing the administration of misrepresenting economic data to disguise the country’s worsening living conditions.
In a statement posted Monday on his official X handle, Obi referenced a remark made by President Tinubu during the 2022 election campaign in Delta State. At the time, Tinubu, then the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had reportedly dismissed the use of data in governance, a jab widely interpreted as being directed at Obi, who was known for his data-driven campaign rhetoric.
“In November 2022, while campaigning in Delta State, the then APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu, now the President, berated the other Presidential Candidate, he was ashamed to call his name, saying, ‘Na statistics we go chop? All I want is to put food on the table of Nigerians,’” Obi recalled.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, argued that two years into the Tinubu administration, the food security promised by the President remains elusive. “Now two years into his 4-year tenure, Nigeria is classified as one of the hungriest nations in the world, with millions of Nigerians not knowing where their next meal will come from,” he stated.
He went on to accuse the administration of disseminating inaccurate statistics in an attempt to portray a false sense of economic improvement. “President Tinubu is now overfeeding Nigerians with wrong statistics, from wrong unemployment figures, wrong inflation figures, and now GDP rebasing, all to put a positive spin on our deteriorating economic and household conditions,” Obi alleged.
The former presidential candidate also reiterated his philosophy of governance, emphasising the need for integrity, competence, and compassion in leadership. “Governance is not rocket science. It’s not a gamble. Like I have always reiterated, it requires sincerity of purpose, character, competence, capacity, and compassion,” he said.
Obi ended his statement with a reaffirmation of his campaign slogan, saying, “A new Nigeria is possible.”
His comments come amid heightened economic challenges, with inflation figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showing persistent increases in food prices, and growing concerns over job losses, naira volatility, and weakening purchasing power.
