The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asserted that former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has assumed the role of embittered loser and spoiler over his recent comment on Nigeria’s economy since the ruling party took power in 2015. Naija News reported that Peter Obi raised concern over the lingering economic crisis in Nigeria, recalling that Nigeria had the biggest economy in Africa as of 2014.
Taking to his official account on X on Monday, Peter Obi said the country’s economy soon began to drop in 2015.
In his message, Obi drew attention to the stark difference between Nigeria’s economic achievements during its early post-democracy years and its current economic condition.
However, the APC, in a statement on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Obi’s comment on the country’s economic situation is an admixture of half-truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilize outrage against Tinubu’s government.
Felix faulted Peter Obi for only acknowledging the challenges in the country while ignoring the thoughtful policy intervention President Tinubu had taken to salvage the economic situation.
According to the APC chieftain, contrary to Peter Obi’s claim, the country had, in the last one year, attracted over $20 billion into the economy, aside from recording an all-time high N6.52 trillion trade surplus in the first quarter of 2024, marking a positive shift from a long history of trade deficits.
The statement read, “Mr. Obi’s latest statement on the country’s economic situation is an admixture of half truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilize outrage against the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“His warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration is a highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade.
“But in his selfish political desperation, Obi will never acknowledge the complexity of the causation of our economic challenges but would rather attempt to scapegoat the APC administration for all of the country’s economic ills while turning a blind eye to the bold and thoughtful policy interventions of President Tinubu’s administration.
“Quite contrary to Obi’s jaundiced and gloomy analysis, in the last one year alone, the country has attracted over $20 billion into the economy, aside recording an all-time high N6.52 trillion trade surplus in the first quarter of 2024 marking a positive shift from a long history of trade deficits.
“Despite clearing the backlog of the foreign exchange debts owed foreign airlines and other economic actors by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation’s foreign reserves has continued to expand, hitting upwards of $34 billion, the highest in recent times. Capital inflow into the country increased by 66.27 percent this year alone.
“Notable financial experts and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report that for the first time in our economic history, the All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed the 100,000 benchmark this year, making the Nigerian Stock Exchange currently about the most profitable capital market in the world with a return on investment (RoI) as high as 22.90 percent.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that the nation’s economy will have a 3.1 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2024, one of the highest projections for any African country.
“Initiatives such as the Credit Corps, Students Loan, the newly approved minimum wage, the construction of 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, and many more are tailor-made by the President Tinubu’s to combat poverty and expand economic opportunities for Nigerians.
“Mr. Obi is a loquacious and disruptive backseat driver who has assigned himself an ignoble role of an embittered loser and spoiler. Economic challenges and hardship are a stark reality of most countries of the world today, both developed and developing. It is an existential condition that must be tackled and transformed. This is an arduous task that requires collective patriotic collaboration.
“Mr. Obi must know that inflaming passion and mobilizing outrage through false and manipulative narratives are not legitimate tools of opposition politics. Expecting President Tinubu to accomplish total transformation of Nigeria in one year, a feat he failed miserably to accomplish in eight years as Governor of Anambra state, is the height of disgraceful hypocrisy.”
